


Expanding a Pallet

by BlueDemonofFire



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, RWBY
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-02
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-04-17 13:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 65,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14190297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueDemonofFire/pseuds/BlueDemonofFire
Summary: A lot of odd things happened when the Kingdom of Vale fell. For Yang Xiao Long, she's gone off the edge of the map to a world with different kinds of monsters than the Grimm.With just one arm and no clue about the world around her or how to get home, she has no choice but to roll with the punches. Who knows, maybe this "Journey to be a Master" thing will be fun..





	1. Crossing Worlds the Accidental Way

Author’s Note: Well, this idea among many others has been bouncing around in my head for quite a while, but this one was the only one that seemed to have a lot of staying power. This isn’t going to slow down the Modern Warfare LP fic, it’s essentially something I can work on whenever writer’s block hits me for that story, and is in some ways easier to work on since I don’t have to look at gameplay footage to find ways to transcribe.

Not that this is going to be necessarily easier as a whole compared to the Let’s Play fanfiction. I’ve got to figure out how to get two completely different worlds, Pokémon and RWBY, to interact with one another. I’ve got to think what characters from those series or possibly others I want to throw in and have interact, the plot, a great deal about the environments, how to interpret the various moves in Pokémon in a non-turn based environment, that sort of thing.

And Yang feels like the best one to throw into this strange new world to me. I look forward to exploring the non-asskicking part of her character as she begins her journey.

_______________________

Chapter 1: Crossing Worlds the Accidental Way

Science was in its own ways a battle. At least, that was the general consensus of most scientists. A combination of caution and audacity that was different from one researcher to another. Though perhaps that way of thinking was just an effect of Pokémon influencing humans.

Whatever the case, Bill felt confident enough to test just how far at a time his new transfer device could go, but not quite confident enough to test it on anything living. He'd already checked if it could go from Saffron City to the Indigo Plateau. Now for something further, from his lighthouse lab near Cerulean to Professor Elm's lab in Johto. If everything continued to follow his expectations, by the end of the month he'd check if he could sent inanimate objects from Kanto all the way to Unova.

Item transference was only the beginning. Eventually he hoped to be able to transfer Pokémon and even people all over the world. He could just imagine it, a world more connected than ever before, where even the most extreme distance was as easy as the push of a button to overcome. Cultures, people, and Pokémon, truly unit..

..well, that was disappointing. The instant ramen on the counter wasn't teleporting. The equipment was clearly running, the fans to keep it from overheating were going loud. A little louder than his last test come to think of it. Did he run into the limit of what his technology was capable of at this stage of development? Not entirely unexpected but still disappointing.

As tempting as it was to poke at the plastic cup, he'd rather not risk losing a finger if the transfer happened just as he touched it. Thankfully the phone was right next to his computer. He could examine the readouts while calling the professor to see how things were on his end.

The phone didn't even finish the first ring. "Doctor, I could have sworn you said we were sending something small in this test."

Definitely not the hello he was expecting. "Yes, I was wondering why it hasn't gone through already! Everything's registering as green on my end but I'm not seeing a blinding white light as it teleports."

At least Elm didn't sound like he was in a panic, just confused. But then this was the first time he'd seen the equipment running and trusted Bill to know what was happening. "The equipment isn't registering any problems. At least nothing your list of potential problems would hint at.."

Great, so whatever was going on was something his calculations and various paranoid imaginings didn't come up with. That was comforting. About as comforting as seeing scavengers flying overhead and clearly expecting a feast soon. 

"..but did you say 'blinding _white_ light'?"

Something other than what he'd seen in the thirty-six successful tests. Wonderful. "Yes. What are you seeing?"

"Well, it looks like one of those cheesy science fiction portals above the point on the table you intended. Some kind of glitter around it. It's also noticeably not blinding."

It should be emitting light right at the spot the ramen was supposed to flash in at. Hell, the transfer should have happened at the same speed it took for his voice to travel by phone! And even if there was some kind of inaccuracy like the Coriolis effect, it shouldn't be in the same room but 'larger' and 'higher'. "..above? How far above?"

"It's between the light overhead and the actual ceiling. I'm surprised it's not affecting the electrical current powering the light, but it's still rather..concerning. It's sort of disk shaped. large enough I could throw my bike into it. Hell, I could probably ride my bike 'through' it if it was at ground level. I can't really say what color it is..it's shifting colors so much and going through more than even a rainbow would bother with. Does light count as light if it exudes darkness for a few seconds? That isn't my field."

Something resembling panic began to grow in Bill’s chest. "Well at least we aren't accidentally angering something like Garatina, that would be a bit more distinctive. Since none of my equipment is reading anything wrong, and the equipment I sent you isn't reading anything odd, I don't suppose you have anything in your lab to try scanning what's actually happening, do you?"

It was grasping at straws and both of them knew it. He didn't know how Elm felt about that, or if he even caught that Bill was just as much in the dark as him. If anything he sounded embarrassed that he didn't think of doing something like that on his own. "Yeesh, I'm not really one to focus on anything other than Pokémon biology and abilities. Still, I might have..hold on."

Every second felt like an eternity, especially when the more cautious part of his mind was telling him to shut the machine down. As informative as learning what was going on and trying to figure out how it happened might be, the fact of the matter was that it was 'very' much something he wasn't prepared to deal with. Something completely unknown. And he was putting Elm and his assistant in potential danger to satisfy his curiosity. If it was just himself, he’d be eager regardless of consequences..

"Right, think I found something. It's typically used to figure out what type of Pokémon are in a two kilometer range..it's getting plenty of readings of numerous Pokémon beyond the portal, seems to be hundreds. At least it's not the distorted world, that would register tens of thousands right on top of eachother."

That still didn't make Bill feel all that sure about what was going on, or ease his conscience.

"Not sure why I'm not getting too much detail, I'm doing all I can to give this thing an extra boost in range and I'm getting too much static to say much more than how many Pokémon detected. There's maybe a fire type somewhere in that mess but..okay..now that's interesting."

Interesting. Such a double-edged word that could sum up pretty much everything from a baby trying to imitate someone to imminent death. "Interesting as in worth taking a closer look, or interesting as in we should both cut the power to avoid something dangerous happening?"

"Well, that fire type has to be 'very' powerful, but the static is moving. It's not interference, it's a swarm of some kind that..well, for lack of a better way to put it, registers as void."

Not darkness or ghost type. "..void, professor?"

"Well it's certainly not human, it's not any of the Pokémon types we know of. It seems to almost suck in the energies of everything around it. And there are a 'lot' of them. If I was younger, or had a damn good team on hand, I'd check to see if I found some new breed of Pokémon in an alternate dimension, maybe set up a research post on the other side, but I've seen more than enough horror movies to think I'd be able to do anything and be free to get back out. I'm also getting some odd psychic readings. Omnidirectional. Not just from the portal."

Definitely far too many unknowns to digest in a single Sunday afternoon. "Right. We'll call this experiment a failure, keep a copy of the various settings we tried today and the readings, and if we can replicate the effect try playing explorer later. For now I’d rather not.."

Bill wasn't even sure what he'd rather not. Rather not break the space/time continuum over a stress test gone weird? Rather not risk the only two people actually seeing this getting harmed in any way? Rather not make the people behind his funding decide to cut it because it was going in a completely different direction than anyone thought?

Whatever it was that he'd rather not, Elm seemed to agree. "Right, do we cut the power at the same time or do we have to cut it in a particular order to be safe?"

"Let's try cutting it at the same time. On three..one..two..three!"  
_______________________________

If there's one thing that you can say about anyone on the cusp of being born, assuming you bother thinking about life at such an early stage, it's that they reach out and test the boundaries of their limited awareness. A kick while in the womb..or psychic wonderings while still in the vat, whatever the case may be.

The creature inside the vat wasn't really aware enough to have an identity. How could it when its nervous system couldn't tell if it was wet, warm, or the difference between a solid and a liquid? While the body was taking shape beyond an embryo, it was still not quite a baby yet. 

So the fact that it didn't realize a spot it was probing was an obscene distance away would have been no surprise to the scientists that made it, at most they would have given eachother more pats to the back if they 'had' known it was looking at something so far away. Assuming looking was the right term to use. It just “felt” something that seemed “pleasant” to the only sense it had at this point, its rather potent psychic power. 

Two very old, very powerful Pokémon noticed its probes and were themselves curious both about the psychic presence and the thing it was probing. That sort of range for psychic awareness was enough to make them wonder if a god was forming. Hard to say from one so young. But as ancient and powerful as they were the young mind didn't even notice. And who could blame such a young mind for being so enthralled by what amounted to a lightshow? One that its world had never seen? 

Warriors of various, magnificent colors stood in defiance of shadows without number and of numerous shapes that had only enough presence to register as more than figments of a collective imagination. Weapons that were expressions of their very souls clashed with feral teeth and claws. So much to soak in, too much for even a very powerful psychic to ever have a full picture of even if it had eons of experience with such things and was actually physically there to witness it with sight, hear it, smell it.

So it divided its attention to the various struggles until it found one that it couldn't turn away from. One of the ancient ones tried to give a warning about dividing oneself like that, but that was an easily ignored distraction. What good was communication to a mind that doesn't have an identity yet?

A tired but determined warrior, standing among equally tired comrades, summoning weapon after weapon out of nothing in order to fight hollow drones that were once considered allies. Only out of sheer fatigue is the warrior knocked down, skill meaning little to the weight of numbers bearing down on them. One of the tired comrades summons a piece of a fresh warrior to help, all including the summoner are surprised. The fresh warrior dissipates, and another wave of foes comes at them. The tired comrades complain but still clash against drone and monster alike, hoping their efforts will save countless others. 

A talented, peerless warrior finally being pushed to the limit against a corrupted, searing monster, not quite of the light but not of darkness either. If it was a pure contest of skill than the warrior would have won. If it was a contest of impassioned wills than it would have been deadlocked. Pure power and it would have been one sided in the monster's favor. But the combination of factors made it too close to call until the warrior took a crippling blow. Then a lethal one, the warrior’s light fading. And before the light could fade on its own it was scattered in an explosion of power just to be sure the skirmish in the much larger battle was won.

It didn't matter to the young mind that it was witnessing countless deaths. How could it matter when one hasn't been born yet? What 'did' matter was a burst of energy from inside the anomaly, an uncontrolled explosion from one who 'did' care and released a power older than any on that battlefield. A burst that made even the two ancient Pokémon recoil..and jump-started the newborn's awareness. The energy carried with it a sense of anguish, despair, and flashes of memories. Memories of a place that was only temporarily connected to this planet. A name that screamed through the mind of every scientist in the building with mind numbing intensity.

{"Pyrrha!"}

The unborn creature with the designation of MewTwo nearly died before it was even born, psychically venting before the overload became too much. Trauma that would go unremembered but still leave an incredible mark. The instant they recovered from the backlash enough to stop feeling unexplained agony, every living creature in the lab, from the smallest insect to the scientists, went berserk. A woman ferally punching a random picture on the wall until her bones broke. Lab rats tearing each other apart and then contorting themselves to rip into their own flesh. The cloning lab was no longer a place of science, just a madhouse. And while the rest of the island was safe from harm, the screams could be heard for miles away despite sound not going that far..  
____________________________________

Elm had barely touched the switch to turn off the portal when his scanner went crazy. The screen went fuzzy as its internal circuits went up in flames. Not the kind of overheated flames of overworked wiring. More like someone had been smoking next to a container of napalm, all at once and the only reason he wasn't hurt was he threw it away in shock. 

Then a burst of wind from the portal shoved him off his feet. It wasn't quite powerful enough to send him flying but it came so suddenly it was like a three foot kid managed to tackle him. Thankfully there was a chair behind him. His poor assistant slammed head first against a filing cabinet, blood coming from a nasty looking cut but at least he was conscious enough to try getting back on his feet.

Elm practically leaped for the off switch, no longer caring if he'd do it at the same time as Bill. Things had definitely leaped from 'interesting questions' to 'too crazy to keep poking at'.

Elm didn't hear the cries of alarm from the phone, he just heard a blood chilling screech as the portal collapsed on itself. As if a massive bird was being eaten from the legs up, had no way to escape, and was desperately calling for help with its last breath.  
Just moments before the cry ended and the portal shut, something dropped out of it. Half of Elm was tempted to rush deeper into the lab for something, probably one of the pokemon be kept around for self defense. Then he actually looked at the crumpled, motionless form. Huh, a human. At least at first glance she looked human. 

Long, wild, golden mane. Rather revealing clothes over pale skin. Looked somewhere between five foot nine and six feet tall, hard to tell in a fetal position. One well muscled arm with an intricate looking bracelet, some kind of cartrages inside with some spent..and a bleeding stump where the other arm should be.

Definitely not his field. With a quick apology to Bill, Elm hung up and called a hospital. Wherever this girl came from, her injuries were beyond his first aid kit and limited knowledge of human anatomy.

_________________________

Closing Notes: Yeah, kind of a cliché way to get her from world A to world B, but it’s a cliché because it works. Hope you’re interested enough to keep reading.


	2. Waking Up Off the Edge of the Map

Chapter 2: Waking Up Off the Edge of the Map

Yang was never a morning person in the best of times. She tended to sleep until eleven if she had nowhere special to be. And if she absolutely had to wake up earlier than that, it took her about half an hour for her brain to warm up and actually pay attention to her surroundings. Not the best trait for a huntress in training to have, but when your biggest concerns tend to be early morning classes or the family dog diving into your covers in a stormy night, you tend to relax.

Of course this wasn't her normal morning. It wasn't just that her brain refused to really register anything more complicated than "people keep talking too loud" and "the lights are way too bright". It was like her aura was being pushed beyond the point of exhaustion, somehow fogging her brain and leaving her entire body limp. Not a drugged limp, more like she spent all day working out and passed out due to somehow going way beyond what she should have handled in a single day. It was the sort of tired that forced you to wake up regardless of how much you wanted to go back to oblivion because your brain wants to punish you for being so stupid. She could barely muster the energy to breathe, much less open her eyes.

"Temperature a hundred and fifteen!"

"Holy shit, she should be sweating rivers! Who the hell gets that warm and shivers?! We need icepacks!"

"Fever later, the bleeding's getting worse! Come on people, it's not that hard to stitch a hole like that! The cut’s so clean you’d think a scyther went through a bamboo tube, not human muscles and bone!"

"It'd be 'easier' if her muscles didn't keep moving around like she's trying to do push-ups in her sleep! I swear it's like the more we help, the more problems it makes!"

"What's taking so long to figure out her blood-type?! We're running out of O positive!"

“She's gaining consciousness. Pentathol, now!”

She didn't have nearly enough awareness to realize they were talking about her. Only enough to notice a needle make a small pinch on her upper arm..and then her entire body seized in pain.

"FUCK!"

"HOLY- FIRE JUST BURST FROM THE STUMP?!"

“Screw that! The gurney’s on fire!”

She didn't know where a burst of energy came from. Maybe adrenaline, but whatever it was, it lasted long enough for her to sit up, open her eyes, and scream. Screaming about the pain in her arm, the sight of a stream of blood and actual blazing fire launching from her upper right bicep, the fire seeming to spread all around her. What little rational thought she could muster noticed that she didn't see Blake or anyone familiar in what felt like a hospital room with her, which made her panicking even worse.

And just as suddenly as it came, consciousness slipped from her. The combination of shock and fire consuming the oxygen she didn't use to scream made it feel like she was drowning. She had enough awareness to fight the drop to oblivion, especially since all the doctors, or were some of them nurses, looked too busy being a combination of shocked, scared, and intrigued to do anything more than stare in wonder and talk. Definitely not a comforting si..

"Well, the bleeding's stopped at least."

"Fuck you, my glove caught on fire! I thought we were working on a human, not a magmar! Where did the professor even 'find' this girl, anyway?!"

"I don't know but she's stabilizing now. I'm going to see what's taking so long analyzing her blood. Anyone up for talking to the professor?"

“Definitely me. I trained to take care of people. Pokémon and Pokémon/human hybrids are out of my expertise.”  
__________________________________

The next time Yang felt like she was waking up, there was no fogginess to her thoughts. It was with a scary amount of awareness she opened her eyes and scanned her surroundings.

The bed she was on was too soft to be a hospital issue. Hell, it was too soft to be her dorm bed or in her room in Patch. Soft enough that her body gave the mattress a very severe dip, about two or three inches, and she had to grab the metal headrest to sit up without different parts of her body sinking further. Her right arm wasn't cooperating though. Probably because it was missing..huh. That probably deserved more attention than her surroundings. She remembered having it when she rushed to help Blake, then..nothing. Why did Blake need help again? Just asking the questions in her head was giving her a migraine. Probably should focus on her surroundings again.

Every part of the headrest was decorative. What she thought were just curved bars with strange bumps turned out to be stylized snakes. Snakes that comically looked like they were hanging onto a tree in the center for dear life. And that tree seemed to have a tired, long weathered expression on its face. Kind of childish but the bed was way too large for a kid.

The amount of detail was too much for it to be from some cartoon she'd never heard of, and that was some very firm material. It 'looked' like gold, but gold would have had at least a little give as she got herself to a sitting position, doing a one handed pull up. Not a loose screw to be felt as she ran her fingers across as much of the surface as she could reach, and it was polished like someone was either trying to sell it or they loved looking at it more than sleeping. 

The room the bed was in seemed less like a bedroom and more like one half library and one half chemistry lab. At least if the desk with a microscope and around a dozen vials of different colored liquids was any indication. It's not like she knew the difference between one field of research and another. All she knew was this place did 'not' scream "place for injured people" or “relaxing place to sleep” to her. As much as she wanted to be on edge in an unfamiliar place, there wasn't anything that implied any threat. The lights were soft, the rug was a grassy green, the wallpaper a sky blue. Wherever she was, it wasn't what she imagined prison would be like at all, or a pervert's sex dungeon. The very expensive bed was put intoa random unoccupied room, which sent a rather interesting mixed message she couldn't really translate. What, did a friend of Weiss decide to take her in? No, wait, Weiss didn't have any friends outside of Beacon. Or if she did, none of them lived in Vale.

A constant beeping drew her attention to what looked like medical equipment. Well, like if you only paid attention to the heart monitor at the top. She was used to those having a blue line, not red, but the periodic noise and the way it bounced up and down were similar enough. At least compared to the medical dramas her dad liked to watch. Nice, steady beat that could drive you crazy after a while. There were a lot of other readouts, from six feet up to the wheels, many of them with jargon that meant nothing to her.

More concerning was the fact that they took the half of Ember Celica she should still have from her arm to hook her up to the various machines. She moved to take it off but..right, she didn't even have an elbow on her right anymore, much less anything to unstrap that complicated device from her. How did that happen again? And why wasn't she freaking out? Waking up in a strange place with a missing limb should have made her more nervous than Ruby when something she tinkered on backfired somehow.

More importantly, if she was in friendly territory, where the hell was the rest of her team? Ruby should have been making a moat into the floor around the bed in a combination of pacing and crying. 

Eventually she mustered the energy to get to her feet, though she needed to use the readout equipment to avoid falling flat on her face. How much of that was general weakness and how much was her balance being thrown off? Just how much balance did she really need to stand at all? Did something with wheels really offer the kind of balance a cane might? Great, she was wondering about too many things at once with no way to answer any of it. Focus on what she ‘could’ figure out. Leave the rest for later.

For the hell of it, she checked if the equipment she was using as a wheeled crutch had an aura readout. Ah, there, underneath something with a lot of jargon next to symbols that made no sense. Small red bar that didn't even fill a tenth of the rectangle. Huh. Well at least part of the bar was filled. But that really didn't explain much.

She would have expected more pain than fatigue at that. It wouldn't be the first time her aura had been broken after all. Of course the most serious injury she ever had was being knocked out for a few minutes after being flung into the roof of a train car. Not..

[Cold steel burned through the flesh of her arm instantly. It was like her body was replaced by a plasticine duplicate. No resistance, no time to react. Just as soon as it began the pain began to dull, as did her eyesight. Her aura went straight from full to nonexistent in less than a second and she had absolutely no idea how or why.

If anything, her senses couldn't dull fast enough. The man who just hurt her, who had been hurting Blake, slowly turned around as she dropped limply to the ground. He flicked his sword casually, as if he couldn't be bothered to take the effort to wipe her blood from his blade. And while she couldn't see his eyes behind that mask, his grin wouldn't have looked out of place on a sadistic kid with a magnifying glass.

Her last sight as darkness overtook her was Blake crawling over her body, saying..something. She sounded so far away though. Despite being practically draped over her she felt much, much further away than that horned swordsman. Shit, she could hear his footsteps as he slowly approached. See the fire behind him highlight him like something out of a horror movie.]

The rushing memories made her stomach churn, and while she didn't have any food to puke, she still bent over and hacked, a yellowish liquid splattering onto the rug and dribbling down the side of her mouth, her throat burning with more intensity than her actual injury. An injury that shifted from ‘odd’ to ‘disturbing’ in less than a second. She could ‘feel’ herself clenching that fist, pulling it up to her chin, even felt the sensation on her chin! But there was nothing to ‘see’, and when she tried to slap herself with her seemingly invisible limb, it was..indescribable. Feeling the texture of the blow without the pressure. The expected sting on her cheek, without..what the fucking..

Any further thoughts of movement, amateur self-doctoring, trying to understand what was with her arm, or reliving recent traumas were cut off by the sound of footsteps. Actual footsteps. Heavy footed, so not a member of her team, and too fast paced to be walking.

The only door she could see in the room burst open, and any small sense of threat died as she saw the winded, gray haired man. He looked somewhere between fifty and sixty, and whatever athleticism he used to have had long turned to flab. Weiss probably had more muscle..and his hairline was a childhood nightmare. Receding and dulling in color in ways that no dye she knew of could really hide. It held the attention just long enough for her to acknowledge there were scarier things, and still hope that never happened to her.

Still, it didn't take him too long to catch his breath. "Ah..you're finally awake. Good morning. Well, afternoon, but the sun is still up. That's got to count for something."

Casual greeting with some nervous humor. Maybe he saw some of the footage from the tournament and didn't want to..no, if he was afraid of her he wouldn't be alone. And she wouldn't have woken up in an expensive bed with nothing but medical equipment and her clothes. She opened her mouth to speak, not even sure what she'd say, and half way through the word 'what' she went into a coughing fit.

That prompted the old man to close the distance and offer her a bottle of a yellowish liquid. "Easy there. You've been asleep for a little over.."

He checked his watch on his other hand. "..thirty six hours. I probably should have hooked you up to something to at least keep you hydrated, but I wasn't sure if that might affect your natural healing. Speaking of, do you mind if I get a better look at those readouts?"

Oh right, leaning against the equipment like a wheeled cane 'would' obscure other people's view. As confused as she was, it didn't feel like she needed to act tough around this guy. Just collapse onto the bed again, preferably in a position someone generous might call sitting, and grab the bottle. Wait, reach with the hand still attached.

At least there was no cap on it. She wouldn't have been able to muster a groan at that. Giving it a tentative sip, she was relieved it didn't taste 'bad'. Not that it tasted good, either. It was like someone put blueberries and pickles in water, stirred them up, and didn't really give a damn how it tasted. While she wouldn't go out of her way to drink it, she wasn't completely repulsed, either.

What 'really' surprised her, though, was how much 'better' it made her feel. Judging from the beeps and how the aura gauge filled to about halfway, going from red to yellow, the stuff was better than any of the aura supplements she'd heard of. Those just let people heal faster, not gave them that kind of boost instantly. Sure, she was still tired but it went from “holding my head up straight is too much effort” to “that was a very intense workout”.

Wiping what was left of the stuff from her lips and just feeling 'amazed' as so much fatigue just evaporated, there was no coughing interruption this time. "Okay, in order, what is this stuff and who are you?"

It was hard to tell if his smile could grow any wider or what made him more pleased, the fact that she seemed healthy or the very obvious awe in her voice. "That was what most stores and trainers call a 'super potion'. There is a more official seven syllable name but only the chemists at Silph ever seem to use it."

The way he said that name meant a company. And any company who could make something like this would be rich enough that it'd be just as well known as the Schnee Dust Company. Maybe it was something new? Or at least not something sold in stores yet for some reason? "Well whatever it's called, it's officially become my favorite drink! Seriously, I've walked out of train crashes in better shape and this stuff did what a day and a half of being out like a light couldn't?!"

He chuckled at that. "Yes, it is rather potent. There's a less and a more effective version, a regular and a hyper potion, but that was the only bottle the store had left at the time. Very popular, and one of these days the supply ‘should’ match the demand. Now, as for your other question.."

The next words from his mouth sounded heavily rehearsed even if there was a good deal of genuine pride behind them. Like a radio announcer who introduced himself ridiculously often and never got tired of it. "My name is Professor Samuel Oak. Some consider me a teacher, helping the next generation of trainers however I can. Others see me as a leading expert on Pokémon biology and physiology. Personally, I just see myself as someone who has fun making the world a better place however and whenever I can."

If anything that just left her with more questions than answers. Of course she’d had nothing but questions since she woke up. "That's the second time you've said the word 'trainer'. And what's a 'poki-man'?"

That outright derailed him. There was a flash in his eyes, surprise and excitement the only things she could read. For a moment it was like he forgot she was there, mumbling to himself. "Oh dear. I probably should have expected that. The strange computer, the odd bracelet.."

The instant she realized what he meant by 'strange computer', she burst to her feet. The poor professor jumped back at the suddenness of her action, and visibly wilted under her glare. The fact that her eyes went from purple to red and her hair started to glow did a better job highlighting her urgency than her now brittle voice. "Where's my scroll."  
____________________________________

It didn't take long to get to the other part of the lab. Yang barely paid attention to the odd machinery, various decorations, or the two other people in lab coats. She just zeroed in on the desk that had her scroll and what was left of Ember Celica.

It was awkward opening the scroll up with one hand, especially since it wasn't her dominant one. But at least it was easy enough to type in her password, get to the team aura section and..see that all three of the others were too far to read. Great. Well the burst of hope was worth something at least. And apparently the CCT was down. There was no local map, no long-range communications, and nobody had left any messages.

Sighing, she was about to close the scroll when one of the people in a lab coat made an impressed whistle. Yang spun to face him and he didn't even notice, too absorbed by the screen. Part of her was tempted to shove him away because ‘wow’ he had little to no sense of personal space. "That is a 'lot' of functionality packed into that thing."

Oak walked a little closer, thankfully his courtesy outweighed his curiosity. “That makes sense. You don't give password protection to a clock with useful trivia in it. Just what does it seem to have?”

His unkept shoulder length hair smacked Yang in the face as he turned. Ugh, this guy smelled 'bad'. Not the sweaty gym kind of bad but built up filth from a 'long' time without a shower. Was brown even his natural hair color or just uncleaned grime? "A lot of it appears to need an external signal to fully work. But she just checked her own health bar, and it automatically tried to check the health of three others. She then saw if it generated a map for the area, tried to make a 'phone' call with it, and then checked if there were any saved messages. Comparing this thing to the Pokedex is like comparing a caterpie to a venusaur. Easily a lot more power and a completely different line of evolution."

That certainly impressed Professor Oak as well. "Ah, that certainly explains her..agitation when she learned we took it. That sounds obscenely useful. Still, if it relies on outside transmissions to be fully functional..probably not a good idea to borrow that particular line of thought. Trainers of all kinds can end up in places where ‘any’ kind signal will be disrupted, and I’d rather the Pokedex be as useful as possible wherever possible."

Nothing was making any sense, and it was with a sinking feeling in her gut she pulled up a generic map of all of Remnant, holding it up with the screen facing the three strangers. "Please, please just point 'anywhere' on the map! How far am I from Beacon, from Vale?! Am I even on the right 'continent'?!"

The professor looked uncomfortable with that question, as if he was wrestling with all the possible answers and none of them felt right. The third person in the room seemed to shrink into her lab coat, trying not to be noticed but not quite nervous enough to want to leave. The unkempt guy didn't seem to notice anything wrong with the question, he just took a moment to make sure the other two weren't going to say anything before stating, "You're off the edge of 'that' map. So does that make you an alien, or.."

That was when whatever energy that “super-potion” gave her drained. Sure, they 'could' be lying, but everything from the glib way that man said that to the professor's overall demeanor to the weird bed she woke up in..it felt like something out of a bad adventure cartoon. Only there weren't any sugary sweet ponies who could solve all her problems. No ancient king telling her what to do to go back home. She was just a fish out of water.

Great. Fish. If Weiss was here she'd probably use it as a weapon and somehow look dignified doing it. Ruby would try to find an awkward way to make it her friend, they stopped getting goldfish after the fifth toilet funeral. Blake would just eat it. And Yang was too busy letting her mind wander to remember to stay on her feet. At least she didn't just let her scroll drop. She waited until she had dropped to her knees and her arm hung limply before letting go, and it leaned against her thigh instead of slapping the tiled floor.

The unnamed guy quickly snatched it up, excitedly mentioning something about analysis. The woman gave Yang a glance that could have been sympathy before heading to one of the terminals and getting back to work.

The professor, however, slowly walked to the broken down, crippled teen and kneeled to be face to face. "I have no clue what you're feeling or to what extent. This is all rather new ground in multiple ways. Take your time. Gather your thoughts. I'll try to explain as much as I can."

He clearly wanted to lay a comforting hand on her shoulder but stopped himself. Whether that was because he was afraid to get burnt or just the awkward fact the shoulder he started to reach for didn't have much left. Either way, Oak looked like a combination of Ozpin's patience and her father's concern rolled into one.

It could have been thirty seconds, thirty minutes, or any amount of time in-between. He didn't move a muscle until she asked weakly, "Just where am I?"

That was when he finally let his hand gently touch her shoulder. "You're currently in Pallet Town in the Kanto region, and your point of entry was New Bark Town in the neighboring Johto region. An associate of mine brought you here after making sure you weren't going to bleed to death. And Pokemon are the creatures we share this world with. I’m sure this is a lot to take in at once on top of the trauma of losing a limb. Just take your time.."

'Creatures', that implied more than one species. Dogs were the only animals she could think of that could be called a companion. All the other non-Grimm weren't crazy enough get into a fight they could easily avoid. Hell, did Grimm even 'exist' here?

Letting out a breath that failed to expel the mind-numbing number of concerns and ghosts that had been steadily growing ever since her one on one match in the tournament, Yang asked, "Take my time and do what? You're saying I’m nowhere near home, not even on the same ‘planet', it's not like my arm’s going to grow back, and I don't even know if my family and friends are even alive right now.”

________________

Author’s Notes: You’re off the edge of the map, Yang. Here there be monsters, and not the kind you’re used to dealing with. We’re talking monsters that can be tamed, befriended, not mindless beasts that only want to exterminate you and everything you love.

I know, kind of a cruel place to stop this chapter, but is there really any ‘good’ way to answer a question like that? Don’t worry, I wrote out three chapters before deciding to post this story so it’s not ‘that’ bad of a cliffhanger. Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Things to Get Used To

Chapter 3: Things to Get Used To

It took a few days for Yang to do much more than just wander aimlessly for most of the morning, maybe eat one meal the entire day, then spend every moment when the sun was down in that fancy bed. Hell, her lack of motivation to do much of anything hadn't gone away.

Still, it was only a matter of time just leeching off the kindness of the professor before some part of her started feeling guilty. She didn't know the guy at all and yet he kept her fed, helped get her some clothes, gave her a place to sleep..and he asked for nothing. Hell, she’d have been creeped out if there was any sign of perversion but he was just too damned kind and more interested in where she came from than anything else. A lot of the questions he’d asked seemed so simple and basic, thankfully nothing anywhere near as tough as a test from Oobleck, but still made her think about things.

So here she was, trying to do one handed push-ups and convince herself she wasn't a complete invalid. Trying to get herself to just let go of the worries she was in no position to do anything about.

It's not like she knew what happened to her teammates, and every night thoughts of their potential fate made her depression turn to anger. Anger at how helpless she felt. Anger at how everything went from carefree in the festival to suddenly she was confined to her dorm room after defending herself after a match to Vale under attack by Grimm, the White Fang, and Atlas robots! The robots were supposed to be on their side, weren't they?! Worst of all were the nightmares.

[There was nothing Yang could do to help Blake. That sadistic bastard with a sword hadn't been satisfied just taking Yang's right arm. He sliced off her left, then her legs.

She didn't know how she was still conscious, or why he didn't just decapitate her. Maybe it would have been too merciful.

He certainly didn't show any mercy to Blake once he was done with Yang. If anything him sheathing that sword and just smiling wider made things worse.  
Blake tried to fight back as he started beating her with his bare hands. Every blow was aimed at either her ribs or the still bleeding stab at her stomach. And every blow knocked the wind out of her. Yang could tell, she could 'feel' every punch. Whimpered in sympathetic agony whenever he dug into the still bleeding wound.

She lost count of how many times he hit her after eleven. That was when Blake stopped resisting and just made breathless noises of pain, desperately trying to gulp for air before she was struck again.  
Maybe the guy got bored, or maybe he felt like he'd made his point. Whatever the case he stopped punching, and just grabbed Blake by the throat. At best she could just weakly grab his wrists, but the air had been thoroughly beaten out of her lungs. And all Yang could do was scream for her partner until the nightmare ended.]

She was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard the professor call to her. "Ah, good morning, Yang."

In her shock her arm moved out of place, and she wound up bumping her nose against the ground. It didn't hurt enough to force any pained noises but it still stung her pride. And that had already taken enough abuse over the past two weeks.

If Oak was sympathetic to the embarrassing moment, it didn't sound like it. "While it's certainly nice to see you're up and moving, maybe it's best if you had breakfast first. Especially considering how little you ate yesterday..or the day before."

Part of her wanted to mention she felt better than she did when she'd first arrived. Numb and filled with directionless fury was better than feeling tired and depressed, right? The other decided to shrug and get to her feet as she said, "Okay. Not like I have any other plans."  
_________________

It was a rare thing to talk to a young adult who grew up in an entirely different culture. One where humanity was in a constant war with the world around them as opposed to at peace and trying to understand it better. As far as Oak knew, this was the first time ever. Granted, there were several dangers in this world, but nothing as far as he knew that consumed villages, entire 'cities'. Anything that potentially dangerous had a rival equal or superior to make sure it didn't cause too much harm.

Miss Xiao-Long made a grimace, not of disgust but the sort of confusion where no matter how many times you're told it stays confusing. "I know I keep asking this but..really? You let ten year old kids run around with 'monsters' across roads with 'other' monsters that probably want to hurt them?!"

He never thought about how everything he had ever known would look to an outsider's perspective. He never even considered that there could be such a thing. It was rather enlightening. So much time spent studying Pokémon and their relationship with the world and humans, now to get the perspective of someone who had never seen Pokémon before.. "I understand your concern. Truly. Everyone who becomes a trainer has to go through tests to see if they're ready, and most families wait a few more years.."

That prompted the blond woman to stare at him like he'd grown an eye on his forehead. "Sorry, I grew up with a 'very' bright little sister and I wouldn't let her go town to town alone even at 'twelve'! Maybe fourteen, but I'd probably tag along just to be safe."

So protective, even hypothetically. And given her physical fitness and..injury, she led a harsh life. Probably much scarier than anything anyone else he’d ever talked to could ever imagine. "And that speaks very well for how much you care for her. Please understand that it's a coming of age in this world. If it was any more dangerous than driving a car, we would be even more careful."

The car comparison seemed to grab her attention. Interesting that cars were still a thing on a different world. "Yeah, I get that. But a driver has to worry about how their car runs, the rules of the road, and pay attention in case the other drivers are following those rules. Even then you get the occasional jerk that changes lanes without warning or doesn't care about a stop sign. There's probably a lot more to being a 'trainer' than a driver, so you've got a combination of ignorance and willful jerkiness to deal with."

Another solid point in her favor. His own grandson was a bad combination of knowing the basics well enough to pass the exam, cocksure enough to consider some of the rules to be more like guidelines, with a hint of arrogance mixed in. Part of him wanted to pity whatever Pokémon he'd have at the start of his journey. The other held hope that his journey would help him grow as a person. "Oh yes. There is quite the learning curve, and nobody can learn everything there is to know in a single lifetime. At least from my perspective it feels like there's always something new. But part of growing up is to face the unknown, learn from it, and adapt. While there are some bad eggs out there, all the ones I've run into have acted like brats regardless of their actual age. No system is perfect, and the fact that the good people of the world outnumber the bad means that we must be doing something right. Though we might not know exactly what part that is."

With that, Yang thoughtfully finished off her last strip of bacon. She'd been eating her breakfast rather slowly, at first due to the occasional moment of trying to do things with a limb she didn't have and mulling over whatever emotions, probably negative, that inspired. Thankfully he'd managed to get her brain going in a different direction.

Absently playing around with her eggs, as if she wasn't sure if she should even try eating them or not, Yang responded, "Yeah..the good outnumbering the bad is good. I can get behind that, even if I still think the system's pretty screwed up. But you're sending a bunch of little kids out on their own and..well, I can't really think what they'd be doing when on the road. If those 'pokiman' things aren't as dangerous as the Grimm where I'm from, they're just wandering aimlessly. Nothing is in desperate need of defense, and with countless people from ten to whatever just roaming around, it's probably a pain to keep track of them all to know just how they're doing."

Yes, a society constantly in a fight for survival 'would' be more concerned with knowing where people are and how they're doing. But a peaceful one would see that kind of concern as invading one's privacy. Probably why her 'scroll' had that map feature, a health monitor, and needed to be connected to a central hub. "Well, not entirely aimlessly. There are numerous kinds of contests, tournaments, and other things across the various towns and cities to draw in trainers. Many have different things they ask for in a winner. Combat skills and showmanship being the most popular areas. And every region has a little challenge in place that everyone, regardless of their interests, tries at least once."

At the word challenge, she finally started trying to pick at the eggs with her fork. Her grip wasn't what he'd call shaky, but she was definitely putting more thought into her movements than such a simple action usually warranted, and visibly winced when anything slipped off. "What kind of challenge?"

There was something about the way she asked that. Something that carried a bit more weight than when a child asked. A child just wanted to know how to prove themselves, to make their name known in the world. But Yang..when she asked, it was someone trying to decide if it was something worth trying at all more for the sake of having something to do.

That warranted a slightly different response than he might give for a school documentary or an 'as you know' bit in a radio show. "There are eight official gyms per region, each run by an expert in a particular type of Pokémon. Rock, water, lightning, grass, psychic, poison, fire, and ground in Kanto. When you beat a gym leader, you gain a badge, and the next leader you challenge doesn't hold back as much since you have proof you passed a challenge. About eighty percent of trainers can manage to get one badge, though for some it can be quite the uphill battle. Around eighteen percent can get all eight and earn the right to face a group known as the Elite Four, and any who beat them get to be known as a champion. Regardless of how far into the journey one gets, it's always a worthwhile adventure. It forces you to learn a larger variety of things to overcome adversity, and in exploring a region you can gain some rather wonderful friendships."

Based on the expression on her face, the sales pitch didn't land quite the way the professor hoped. She nodded in understanding, but not interest. "Okay. I can get that. Some of the most fun friendships happen randomly. And you don't get much more random than in the middle of the road."

Still, it was progress. She wasn't thinking about her losses so much and he'd managed to learn a good amount both about her and her origins in their daily back and forth. The road to knowledge and understanding wasn't always a straight road. "Indeed. Speaking of random, since you're feeling more active today do you think you could help me with a few things once you're done with breakfast?"

That definitely caught her off guard. "You've got two assistants. What's a clueless cripple able to do that they can't?"

Was it a good thing that she was acknowledging she had limits? Or bad that she referred to herself like that? "Victor is a rather excellent technician, but struggles to stay interested in anything that doesn't immediately pertain to technology. While Integra is very knowledgeable but tends to be on the timid side. While I can certainly handle the little guys myself, they can be tiring, and you seem to have have a good mindset to give me a ha..some help."

He wanted to slap himself for the near slip, but Yang didn't even notice. She took a slow swallow of another bit of egg, as if she knew the answer to her next question wouldn't be as easy to digest. "When you say 'little guys', do you mean school children or.."

"Oh no, these are Pokémon. And don't worry, these ones are far too young to be dangerous."  
_________________________

It was more out of a sense of having nothing else to do than any sense of responsibility or curiosity that made her follow Professor Oak to the rather interesting room. It kind of looked like an indoor garden, if the gardener wasn't concerned what plants were growing where so long as they kept growing. If she didn't know any better, she'd wonder if they just built this building around a random section of nature. Just how much money did the professor have, anyway? And how did someone make so much doing just science stuff?

Her eyes were drawn to the first living non-human creature she'd seen since her arrival in Pallet town. Lazing under the window-enhanced sunlight, the little lizard barely moved when it noticed the two humans. Kind of like a cat trying to have a nap, it gave them a once over and yawned as if to say "whatever you want, you can do it yourself." If the cat had frog-esque skin..and a plant stuck to its back. Did..did that thing move so little that a massive plant took 'root' in its 'flesh'! It either couldn't feel pain or was the second scariest thing she'd ever seen!

Another pair of creatures was playfully wrestling in the bushes. A red lizard wound up tossed towards the lazy one, landing belly first in the dirt. The fire on its tail seemed to get a little more intense in its indignation. Climbing back to its feet, making the cutest, high pitched roar she'd ever heard, it gestured with its arms for its opponent to just bring it. That reminded her of one of the first lessons her dad taught her about combat: only the stupid and the cocky willingly concede the initiative.

The final creature stepped out of the grass, and unlike the red lizard had noticed it now had an audience. The blue turtle gave Yang and Oak a quick salute and swaggered like a kid trying to look cool and not comprehending that it looked ridiculous with its head leaning back, legs making exaggeratedly "heavy" steps and shelled pelvis sticking out.

Red waited until blue was in arms reach and then leaped. Really? Tackling a shelled opponent from less than a foot away? There's no momentum! And as the two amateurs proved they didn't have any clue how to wrestle, blue's more stubby arms and legs proved too awkward to get a grip on. Add in the smooth shell with few if any obvious places to grab? Yeah, red was screwed.

Professor Oak was giving them a fond smile. "I never get tired of seeing young Pokémon interact with eachother, or young trainers getting their first starters. There's just something about seeing the beginning of a journey.."

Part of Yang wanted to make a jab about the professor's age. But she couldn't help just continuing to stare at the creatures. The way the lazy one gave a huff of superiority before standing on all fours and moving to a better place to watch practically screamed 'Weiss'. At least assuming Weiss wasn't in one of her workaholic moods. The way the blue one seemed to gloat as it quite clearly won again made the words "I'm queen of the castle" sing through her head. And the way the red one looked dejected for all of four seconds before jumping back to its feet and clearly asking for a rematch..well okay. That didn't remind her of anyone in particular but it was still kind of cute.

When she finally managed to think of something to say, she kind of felt like a little kid helping out her dad and uncle Qrow around the house again. "Just what kind of help do you need here?"

"It's mostly just keeping them company and making sure they're eating properly. I try to set aside at least an hour a day to do this, but sometimes other projects get in the way. It's a poor excuse, I know, but it's easy to lose track of time when you've run into something particularly engrossing."

Something about that felt less than honest to her. He certainly found time in his day to check up on Yang every day, even if it was at random times. He had enough money to give a random stranger a bed that was probably more expensive than everything in her Beacon dorm room combined. This was a guy with a very flexible schedule who could hire someone to do this kind of menial task for him.  
Shrugging, she figured she didn't have anything else to do so she wouldn't call him out on that. "Well, you didn't bring any bags of food that I can see, and unless their breakfast consists of about six berries from that random tree there, this is probably just to hang out with them."

He gave a smile very reminiscent of Ozpin at that. "Well, not just 'hang out', considering some of your questions earlier I thought you might want to meet some starter Pokemon. These are the ones that people from Pallet town choose from. None are really better than the other, it all comes down to style and personality."

Well if he wanted to put her mind at ease about the whole monsters and people living together thing, showing these three cute guys was pretty effective. But she somehow doubted 'all' of them were this cute.  
______________

It was hard to say how long she'd been in there. Anywhere between an hour and three felt about right. And she couldn't even remember when the professor left the building. She was too consumed just..watching the little guys.

The lazy one, a species apparently called "bulbasaur", felt like the most clever of the bunch. When the professor put some canned food into bowls, he took one lick and grimaced while the other two just dived in. Understandable, it looked like wet dog food..if dogs ate salmon flavored chunks of a brownish substance. Maybe cat food was a better comparison?

Then some kind of vine slid out of that plant on his back to reach for one of the berries in the tree. So that growth wasn't some morbid sign of lethargy but a part of his body he could control? Weird.

When he couldn't quite reach it, he started scanning around for something to give him that extra few inches he needed. Part of Yang felt a little guilty for just walking over and giving him a boost, he seemed to be having fun solving his own problems. Then she saw the surprised, grateful smile he aimed at her and damn it's a good thing she'd developed an immunity to cuteness. You could 'weaponize' how adorable this thing was.

The fire lizard, something called a “charmander”, was the first to finish eating. Yeesh, the little guy was competitive with pretty much everything it came across. Though based on the way he acted it had less to do with winning and losing and more about the challenge.

After seeing the way Yang helped the bulbasaur reach the berries he clearly wanted to prove he could climb all the way up there himself. At least if the way he went to the trunk of the tree, tried to dig his claws into the bark, and awkwardly started to climb was any indication. Unfortunately for him, his claws weren't fully grown in yet, and even if they were they just weren't designed for climbing trees. She’d seen more than enough things meant to tear flesh to make that sort of mistake.

Still, while Yang had the sense that he wouldn't appreciate her lifting him up to his self-imposed goal, there didn't seem to be any issues with her giving some advice, mentioning spots that looked like they’d give him better grips. Bit to the left to a knot here, a branch firm enough to support his weight there. She was also free enough to move under the little guy just in case he fell. It's not like the bulbasaur needed her help to crush and smear the berries across the cat food.

A good thing she did, too. It was hard to say if he just didn't get his claws in deep enough or if a small, critical part of what was holding his weight broke off. All she knew was that she had half a second to react to a little red blur falling within arm’s reach. In some ways it was easier to catch him than Ruby, he was smaller and didn't fall as fast as her sister could run. It was still awkward with only one hand, especially since she moved as if she had both and could ‘feel’ both move where she intended them to be. It wasn't until he desperately latched onto her left that she even remembered.

Yang couldn't find it in her to be annoyed as those little claws made her still recovering aura flare a bit, though she did hiss at the pain. It probably didn't do much damage, someone without an active aura might have gotten some reddish lines around the tricep but no actual bleeding. Still, the little guy looked apologetic and she probably could have thought of a better way to catch him one handed.

Since both were to blame, Yang didn't feel the need to get angry at him, she just asked, “So, you want me to put you back on the ground? Or find a spot partway up to keep going?”

While she couldn't outright understand any of the noises coming from his mouth, the claw pointing down was clear enough. Gently setting him down, she chuckled as he tried to start climbing all over again. Guess he wanted to prove he could do it in one go. That left her playing spotter. At least he wasn't lifting weights or.. 

..her train of thought was derailed when she saw some motion back at the food bowls. Specifically, the turtle, called a squirtle, was..breakdancing. Or at least trying to breakdance. It was difficult to do without any music in the background..and with such stubby limbs..and a shell.

The bulbasaur gave his companion an exasperated stare before picking up his still unfinished bowl and moving. Guess this wasn't the first time he’d done crap like that. Thankfully it wasn't captivating for too long, she noticed just in time as charmander fell down again, moving just fast enough to catch him. It probably wasn't the softest catch using her arm like a branch. Still he landed in a way that didn't get her scratched and it probably hurt less than smacking straight into the ground would have. Progress. 

Setting him down again, she heard the oddest noise. A combination of a meow and a croak. Charmander gave his buddy a blank glance that could only mean “really?”. Bulbasaur took a front paw to his forehead and rubbed. Yang just giggled. Yeah, she could definitely see what the professor was saying about these things.

Of course she couldn't help wondering why he’d left this handful of a trio with the girl who literally had just one hand. A little help would be appreciated.   
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Author’s Note: And that does it for the first three chapters. Anyone have any ideas of which of the three starters Yang should pick and a nickname for her new partner? I can’t promise I’ll take it into account when I make my own decision, but it’s still a fun thing to think about regardless.


	4. Shifting Out of Park

Chapter 4: Shifting Out of Park

Five more days. Yang had built up a kind of routine at this point, though there was still plenty to get used to. Emotionally and physically.

Free moments were spent exercising, partly to keep the rest of her body in shape and partly to just get physically used to not having her right arm anymore. Occasionally she caught herself focusing on various different kinds of arm exercises to a point she’d have considered overdoing it, and while she’d mentally reprimanded herself for that, it didn’t stop her from at one point asking the professor if he could see about getting a one-handed dumbbell.

For significant amounts of time between breakfast and lunch, then lunch and dinner, she “took care of” the three Pokémon in their habitat.

Well, okay, charmander needed a good deal of looking after. The guy seemed to love coming up with challenges for himself, from climbing trees to trying to see how many times he could flip in the air as he jumped from a rock. While there were plenty of ways he had fun that didn’t involve testing his own limits, it was like he found the taste risky antics sweeter than garden variety playing. Energetic as all hell, but it was still pretty fun to look after him..even if he tended to absorb quite a bit of attention with his antics.

Of course squirtle got jealous of that attention by day one, but it wasn’t until day three that it looked like it’d boil over to something serious. Specifically, during one of the usually playful wrestling bits with charmander he poked his red buddy in the eye and had an all-too-innocent expression on his snout that set off Yang’s big sister instinct. While his cute looks kept her from punting him through the roof, her hair was glowing as she yelled at him. Of course the fear in his eyes cooled her down. She kept reprimanding him, but with a softer tone of voice as she knelt down and started petting him. Sure, he’d done something wrong, but it wasn't anything that caused permanent damage, and to be fair she really ‘should’ have given him more attention.

As for bulbasaur, well, he was the one who helped patch things up. The little problem solver thought of some things charmander could do that didn’t require any real supervision, like using his vine to create a makeshift swing set. He never begged for attention or did anything that made staying close in case of trouble feel necessary. He just..liked watching everyone else, never made a fuss when he wanted something, he just went for it. If Yang happened to help when he couldn’t grab whatever he wanted or reach a nice napping spot that caught just the right amount of sun, he didn’t act insulted like some people Yang knew. He just smiled, appreciating that she went out of her way to help him when she didn’t need to. And in turn, whenever he saw an opportunity, he helped her in what little ways he could..which mostly translated to catching anything she might drop or keeping an eye on whichever one of the other two Pokémon she wasn’t hovering over.

Breakfast was spent in a one on one talk with the professor, and while more often than not it lead to her asking various questions about how this world worked, occasionally it turned into her explaining how things were in Remnant. She probably didn’t learn anywhere near as much as he did in those exchanges, but one thing that definitely stuck out to her was that people didn’t generally have auras. At the very least she was the only person he’d heard of to have one.

Lunch was typically a skull session between the professor and his two assistants, Integra and Victor. Integra was so shy outside of work related stuff Yang couldn’t help wondering if she and that attention starved squirtle had swapped personalities or something. It was like she kept trying to hide inside her lab coat like it was a shell any time Yang tried to spark some kind of conversation or other with her, and while she was ‘polite’, she was so timid in her responses that it seemed to cut the legs out from under any real attempt to get some kind of back and forth.

The guy, though..Victor was a technophile that could put Ruby to shame. Anything that had any sort of technological link to it, he loved to talk about. Occasionally she told him what little she knew about programming and entered the password for her scroll so he could explore the various functions, trying to guess just how much memory and processing it had. If anything, the touchscreen was the most fascinating thing about it if his facial expressions and the little noises of giddiness were anything to judge by.

Dinner was basically just preheated stuff getting warmed up for the two assistants and Yang while Oak went to his kid and grandchildren. Just grab a plate, have your fill between whatever thoughts drove you to do whatever it was that grabbed you.

It was a very uncomplicated routine that gave her things to do. Still, it didn't really get her anywhere, both emotionally and physically. While intellectually she knew something had to change, she didn't know what specifically.  
_____________

“..hence why there's a six Pokémon limit in all competitions, both combat related and otherwise.”

Taking a moment to think about it, Yang shrugged. “Yeah, I guess it makes sense to give some kind of limit so a guy who's got a hell of a lot isn't going to win through sheer numbers. Still, I've got to wonder just what kind of person even gets that many. I'm having a hard enough time keeping an eye on three of them.”

Nodding in understanding, the professor responded, “It depends on the trainer: the way they connect with their Pokémon and other people, the method they choose to expand their team. There is no ‘right’ way, just whatever feels best to the person at the moment it happens.”

Putting on what Yang had dubbed his instructor face, Oak continued. “Some are in it for the battles alone. They look for whatever traits catch their eye and forcibly capture wild Pokémon, mostly interacting with others through tournaments and less formal competitions. While it can occasionally feel harsh, I’ve known many who take that approach. One of whom is a very good friend who has only ever been cruel to people who are cruel to friends and Pokémon.”

He paused, smiling at some memories that Yang could almost see flashing in his eyes. The moment they faded he was back to his lecture. “Others help wounded or troubled Pokémon or live among them for a while. Getting to know them before asking if they want to join the trainer. And still others raise them as they hatch from eggs, treating them like their own flesh and blood as they raise them. The average trainer tends to gain around fourteen their whole life regardless of method, though there is the odd few who has over a hundred..”

Over a hundred?! Yang couldn't even count that high before getting distracted by something else! “Yikes, that's quite the army! How do you even ‘feed’ that many mouths?”

That got him chuckling. “With various hired hands and the occasional day care center. Personally I'd argue those kinds of arrangements hurt the personal connection between trainer and Pokémon but perhaps I'm too biased to the personal approach.”

As the last of breakfast was finished and Yang mentally prepared herself for the next part of the routine, the professor snapped his fingers. “Ah, I almost forgot! Apparently, our usual mailman had a family emergency so anything that was due today is sitting in Viridian City.”

Something about the way he said that made it feel like he didn't ‘just’ remember. Still, there wasn't any harm in playing along for a bit. “Well that's a shame. What's the emergency?”

It was at this point it became clear he was a horrible liar. “Oh, his wife is in labor. Wonderful news but he just has to be with her all day.”

That..that was what he was going with? She couldn't even be bothered to start poking holes in that story. Especially the idea that mail was delivered by one irreplaceable man. Well okay, if he was going to play it that way then she was going to fake thinking it was the worst possible thing. “Look, you don't have to give me a story of some kind. If you want me gone then just say it straight.”

He cringed at that. “What?! No, that's not why I..you ‘are’ coming back and there ‘are’ some things I’d like you to pick up! I just..”

There was just something about seeing him flustered that got her outright laughing. Sure, it was a little mean to make a joke like that but the way he was stumbling!

She didn't know how long she’d laughed but by the time she recovered he was giving a good natured glare. “Oh yes, make fun of the kind old man.”

Shrugging, she shot back, “Serves you right for being so bad lying. So why do you want ‘me’ to go I don't know how far to I don't know where to pick up some mail? I haven't even figured out how to use a fork left handed yet!”

His stare became more concerned there. He didn't say a word, didn't shift his eyes from hers, but..yeesh, the guy was starting to make her feel guilty and that was kind of pissing her off. It was hard to say if it was the fact that this guy she’d known for just over a week was trying to act like her father or something else was making her feel a little angry.

Either way, she broke off the impromptu staring contest. “Well? What's the reason you want me to play mailman?”

It took him a moment to gather his thoughts, reevaluate how he was going to approach the heart of the matter. When he made his decision, he stood a little straighter than usual. “I would think of this as a trial run.”

Okay, that wasn't what she was expecting. Gesturing for him to continue, his voice went back to lecture mode, though his face didn't shift to his usual instructor thing. “While I’ve never had anything anywhere near as traumatic happen to me as what happened to you, I have seen my fair share of people who have suffered loss and injury in massive degrees. Now, maybe it's just cultural bias or seeing different people with different problems find ways to grow instead of fester in their miseries. Either way, I can't help thinking that you starting a journey of your own, whatever the reason, might do you some good.”

Starting to walk towards the building with the three Pokémon, the professor went on, Yang feeling no need to interrupt at this point. “Now, I am not a heartless man, even if your joke implied it. All you have to do is take one of the three Pokémon with you to the city, go talk to an old friend of mine that owns a store and pick up some things he's been holding onto for me, then come back. If you feel satisfied by that short trip, or worse, you feel it was too much for you, then I would be happy to let you stay here indefinitely. Still, there can't be any harm in trying, right?”

A few things itched at her mind at that. “Wait, didn't you say that you needed to take a test and have a license in order to take these critters around?”

He chuckled at that, his entire body relaxing back to its usual state. “While it's less formal than the typical test youths go through, the way you’ve interacted with the three starters has more than convinced me that you have the potential to be a wonderful trainer. In fact one of the things you’ll be picking up will be your license as a trainer. I signed the paperwork formalizing it three days ago.”

And that brought the second thing that itched at her to the forefront. “And I'm going to be taking ‘one’ of the three, breaking up the team, before getting on the road?”

He nodded at that, smiling in pleasure at her question. Almost like she had passed another ‘informal’ test. “Think of it less as breaking them apart, and more that we all have different paths in life. You’ll see them again in the future. I’m sure of it.”  
_________________

Whatever he was sure of, that didn't change the fact that this was going to feel awkward. Granted, it wasn't going to be “huntress working with the Grimm” levels of wrongness, but still. Definitely something she didn't feel comfortable with.

She’d been thinking of the three like little kids, and while they all had different needs, and completely different body structures, they were still friends. Add in the fact that she had no idea if she’d ever see the island of Patch, kingdom of Vale, or anyone there, friends and family both, and this just..yeah.

So as the professor approached them first, saying something she couldn't hear. Probably something so the two she didn't pick didn't feel bad when they got left behind. She was too busy trying to make a decision she didn't expect to have to make this morning. Not that having several options would have made things any better.

While she kind of felt guilty just thinking it, unfortunately squirtle was not even in the running. He just felt that he absolutely had to be the center of attention, and it backfired on him. Sure, he’d improved a bit after the day she’d yelled at him, and he wasn't downright unpleasant to be around. He just made a bad first impression and hadn't really done enough to make her want to be with him more than the other two.

Now charmander, he had been fun to be with since day one. A little ball of energy that never ceased to put a smile on her face, he was ‘definitely’ her favorite to hang out with. Just one thing stopped her from picking him: the thought of one of his self-imposed challenges being ‘way’ too much for him to handle. That sort of thing was part of why part of her wanted Ruby to be on a different team from her back at initiation, because her instinct was to take whatever came her sister’s way. On one hand sometimes that kind of protection was outright ‘needed’. On the other, it probably stifled some areas of Ruby’s growth as a person, and it was a little hard to tell sometimes..and since she had one less hand, she was nervous something might pop up that she just couldn’t handle. So as fun as charmander might be to hang around with, part of her imagining Ruby just excitedly saying “Can we keep him”, he just didn’t feel right considering as a ‘partner’ of one kind or another.

Bulbasaur though, he alternately reminded her of Weiss and Blake. He didn’t go out of his way to challenge himself, he just tried to come up with solutions when a problem happened to pop up. Quiet, not really giving a damn if he was the center of attention or not but always pleased whenever she gave him some attention, and somehow managing to be a constant presence in doing so. Just for the sake of fairness she tried to think of a negative in choosing this guy, and just couldn’t think of any. If that wasn’t a decision in itself, she didn’t know what was.

Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she waited to see if the professor was going to do anything other than kneel down and talk to the Pokémon. When it didn’t look like it would ever end, she made a noise as if to clear her throat, more just to get attention than anything else. As he and the three cute little guys shifted to stare at her, the nervousness felt like it got even worse. “Um, yeah..since this is my first time doing this, how ‘do’ we do it? Do you have to make a speech or something about how this is a major decision?”

He smiled reassuringly at that. “Take your time, there is no wrong answer.”

She was sure there wasn’t a wrong answer, just not if there was a wrong way to give an answer. “Oh it’s not that I don’t have an answer. It’s just..tough to give it when I’ve got three expectant little faces staring at me. Rather not trip over myself before I’ve actually taken my first step in this little ‘trial run’ thing.”

Oak’s expression didn’t change, though two of the three seemed to be a little confused. Squirtle’s mouth slackened and he gave charmander a quick glance as if that felt like the most obvious choice. Bulbasaur scrunched his face as if trying to figure out why she was having trouble with this. Charmander just had this gleeful expression on his snout..oh god, that was making this even harder. “That’s understandable. Still, take your time. There’s no rush, no deadline that needs to be achieved. You can make your decision tomorrow if you’d prefer, or even next week if need be.”

Great, just pile on the guilt now that she made her choice and try to say there’s no pressure when it most definitely felt like there was ‘plenty’ of pressure. “Tempting, but..I get the feeling I’d never just out and say it if we kept pushing the date back. Hold on..”

She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, or how long it took for her to suck in the breath she wanted to speak with. It was a long, drawn in breath, like she would take if she wanted to yell to someone who on top of a building and she was just laying down on the grass. The noise that came from her mouth was pretty quiet, though. “..bulbasaur.”

That left squirtle looking downright slack-jawed and bulbasaur’s eyes comically widened as if he was saying “what, me? Are you kidding?!”. Charmander’s expression didn’t change, if anything he seemed to make a little cheer and start clapping, using his tail to nudge his stunned buddy forward. Wow, for some reason she thought he’d be disappointed by that. If the professor was caught off guard by that, he didn’t show it. His grin just widened.  
______________

Well at least she didn’t buy too much clothes..or had too many various belongings with her at all to put into the backpack Oak had provided. Sure, it wasn’t like Viridian City was an obscene distance from Pallet Town, just a solid day or two of walking should get her there. Still. It was hard to say how much of her camping experience was going to mean anything in a world without Grimm and a life with just one arm. Hell, it was tough enough just going through the list of things she felt like she didn’t want to lose track of. Partly because this wasn’t a trip she was expecting to start this morning, and partly because some of the things she’d normally take with her were either back in Beacon or just plain wouldn’t do her any good now. Bulbasaur was just standing near the foot of her bed,looking for anything she might need help with but not knowing how he could help as she grabbed stuff at random to put into sections of bag.

Clothes were easy enough to pick. A few different jeans, a few t-shirts, her new pajamas..it felt a bit off that the only clothes she had were the ones the left Beacon with. Of course she felt so different that she hadn’t actually put a single piece of that ensemble on since the day she had more than one set of clothes to wear. Of course maybe it was the fact that she could somehow ‘smell’ her own long dried and cleaned off blood on them that made it tougher to think about wearing them. Was it even possible to smell your own blood over a week after something like that? Or was it just her mind messing with her?

Tent..well, that was going to be a pain to actually open up, but not having one was just asking for a rainy night. Sleeping bag? Check. Pocket knife? Kind of nice, firm construction with a few varying options including a can opener and a bottle opener. Not that she had any cans or bottles to open but it was nice to have the option. Ember Celica? Hm..no, she only had half of the pair and it’s not like Dust worked around here. That was one of the first things she learned when doing the occasional odd thing with Victor..come to think of it, how did her scroll work if -

Her thoughts were cut off as Victor, the very tech maniac she was thinking of, decided to come in with a small little red and white ball. “Ah, good! You haven’t left yet! I’ve got a little something for you to bring along.”

Considering the only thing in his hands was a small ball, that was probably what he wanted to give. She just continued packing things away while giving it a quick glance, mentally sizing the thing up and deciding it wouldn’t look out of place on a keychain. “What’s that, a toy for the little guy to play with?”

He smiled for maybe a second before something hit him. “Something li..wait, did you say guy?”

Odd word for him to find odd. “Um, yeah. It’s kind of a standard thing to say, isn’t it?”

He blinked a moment, giving her a look as if saying ‘huh, you really don’t know’, then actually saying, “It’s kind of a male pronoun. Huh..I could have sworn that the professor told you that bulbasaur here is a girl.”

Okay, so she’d just have to stop referring to bulbasaur in her head as a he. Not too much of a problem, and the little gu..girl did the closest thing to a shrug she could do on four legs. Probably because she didn’t give a damn how she was referred to so long as it was clear she was the one being talked to or about. “Really? Huh. Is there some kind of visual hint of that other than just checking for genitals or something?”

At that he shrugged, “Well to be fair it’s not something you can really see at a first glance, certainly not at such a young age and stage for this species. It’s not until she’s gotten to her final stage that you’ll see any sexual dimorphism. But if you didn’t know her gender, then I can’t help wondering if you’ve given her a name yet.”

Now she stopped and felt like a deer caught in the headlights. “Wait, I..have to name her?”

Again, he had an odd look in his eye. He was probably just as curious about why the professor didn’t mention any of this to the girl who was completely unfamiliar with an absurd amount about the world she was in. “Yeah. It’s one of those things all trainers do when they get a new Pokémon. They give their ‘mon a name, it could be anything and I do mean absolutely anything. Hell, I named ‘my’ first Pokemon Dunglord.”

Great, another big decision and she hadn’t even finished packing. There was no way she was going to curse bulbasaur with a name like Dunglord, and she really didn’t want to know why Victor would name anything with a pulse something so shitty. The jokey part of her wanted to give bulbasaur the name of “Light” since, well, “Light”bulbasaur might get a few chuckles. Didn’t really feel right though, mostly because she didn’t want a hell of a lot of confusion every time she wanted someone to turn on a light. Another part of her wanted to say Chloe for some reason. Fresh blooming..sounded nice, but it felt like it was missing something. Color. Sure, this was Remnant but..hm..

After a bit of thinking, a name popped into her head that felt like just the right fit. “Phyllis..short for chlorophyll..does that sound good?”

Taking a quick glance at bulbasaur, she did her approximation of a shrug again. Right, so no problems with calling her Phyllis there, and that’s the most important source of critique in the name, all things considered.

Victor seemed reasonably pleased by that as well. “Definitely a nice name. Like the touch by borrowing part of a word important for photosynthesis, really nails it. Whew, well now that we’ve averted some potential embarrassment down the line, let’s get back to why I originally came in: this my friend is a Pokéball..”  
___________________

Omake

“Ah yes, that one’s very energetic, Katsumi.”

“Well I hope I can keep up with him. It’d be kind of awkward if he left me in the dust or something.”

“I don’t think you need to worry about that. Still, there’s just one last thing before you get started..it’s kind of embarrassing that I didn’t ask earlier, really.”

“What, was it supposed to be on the test for the license?”

“No no, just a personal curiosity..are you a boy, or a girl?”

“..you’ve known me for my entire life, hell you’ve known my ‘mother’ for longer than I’ve been alive! And you don’t know what ‘gender’ I am?!”

“..well it is kind of a gender neutral name, and I wasn’t there when your mother actually gave birth..I’ve got to admit I feel like an idiot for not asking sooner.”

“Go with the feeling. I think my respect for you just got taken behind a bike shed and beaten down for whatever spare change was in its pockets.”  
______________________

Author’s Note: Well, we’re starting the journey along nicely now. Anyone else tempted to watch the Pokemon AMV titled The Story Is Just Beginning? Oh wait, that has some Charmander/Charmeleon scenes in it. Ouch.

There are a number of reasons I decided to give Yang Bulbasaur instead of Charmander. First and foremost, it felt a bit too on the nose for who she was pre-Festival. It’s not that it’s a ‘horrible’ fit, it’s just that I’d prefer to pay a bit more attention to Yang’s nurturing nature rather than her hot blooded ass-kicker persona. Not that we won’t see her ever get heated in this story, just that I’ve read a few too many stories where that just feels too dominant a trait. Second, Pokémon are supposed to be like partners to their trainers, and notice how Yang and Ruby didn’t have someone similar to them as partners, and they certainly didn’t partner up with eachother. They had Weiss and Blake, who balanced them out. Of course the full team composition I’ve got in mind for Yang will be a pretty good reflection of who she is, and I’m looking forward to her building the team. Thirdly, I’ve got this brain canon that Red takes Charmander and Blue takes Squirtle, not helped by the anime Pokémon Origins. I didn’t see why the characters taking their place shouldn’t make the same choices.

Apologies to Dark Flower on Archive of Our Own, as much as I liked the name Chloe it just didn’t feel ‘right’ for Yang. But don’t worry, I’ve got an idea for a Pokémon named Ignis later on. Though I don’t know quite ‘how’ long it’ll take to get that far since Yang is only just getting on the road. And also apologies to fans of Squirtle for making the cute little blue turtle the least appealing option to Yang. I wanted to make all three of them feel equally appealing but the combination of me choosing Charmander every time I’ve ever played Red and some annoyance at the Michael Bay versions of the Ninja Turtles made him get the short end of the stick.

Hope this was fun, we’ll see how long the next chapter takes.


	5. First Impressions of the Road

Chapter 5: First Impressions of the Road

Right, so just follow the road until she got to Viridian. That would be a solid bit of advice if there was an actual paved road. Unfortunately Pallet town was an out of the way location. Not so much traffic from the nearby city to the town.

At least there was a beaten path with the occasional sign to help reassure her that she was going the right way. It was actually rather comforting that they wrote in the same language as Remnant. Yang would take every little bit of comfort she could.

Speaking of comfort, her hand went to her pocket, rolling the little ball between her index finger and thumb. Then she glanced at Phyllis just behind her, not quite running to keep up but still moving her little legs at a faster than a casual pace. That prompted Yang to slow down. 

It was hard to imagine how this Pokéball thing even worked. The technical explanation Victor gave just flew over her head, something about energy storage and mass reduction. Not that she doubted it could hold a Pokémon inside considering a single button push made it expand to several times its size, just that part of her felt that wouldn't feel all too pleasant for Phyllis to get stuffed in a little ball.

Sure, she could understand the idea that not everywhere was appropriate for Pokémon to just roam free. She’d dealt with more than her share of stores that said “no pets allowed” where she had to leash Zwei to something random, and she didn't even want to know what would happen if a charmander’s tail flame got too close to a container of Dust. It just felt like a mixed message. So these Pokémon things were friendly companions with minds of their own but they needed some kind of holster like they were a gun?

It was hard to say just how long they’d been walking. Three? Maybe four hours? It's not like she thought to grab a watch before leaving, and she left her scroll behind because most of its functionality was gone anyway. Whatever the case, this felt like a good time to take a break and have lunch, not to mention let Phyllis have a meal as well.

As places to camp out went, this wasn't too bad. Not particularly defensible, no possible choke points or remarkable amounts of visibility or concealment, but nothing that would make defending it a pain in the ass. Just a lone tree in a clearing, nothing but tall grass to obscure her view in any way. Not that anything small enough to hide in grass like that could be all that threatening anyway. So she didn't see a problem with setting down her bag and saying, “Well I don't know about you but I'm feeling a little hungry. How about some lunch, Phyllis?”

Based on the look on the bulbasaur’s face, it was ‘definitely’ appreciated. A grateful smile with a touch of embarrassment in her eyes. Yang could practically hear a cute little voice saying she was sorry for slowing Yang down. Little girl probably had lived most if not all her life in labs like Professor Oak’s. Cross country of any kind was going to be a new experience for her. Well, at least Yang wasn't the only one going through unfamiliar territory in a few different ways. Shame she couldn't ask why the grass in a circular area around the tree was shorter than the stuff around it. Not that she was a botanist or something, just that anything a little out of the ordinary was rarely completely random.

Setting herself down cross legged, the blond chuckled a moment. “Hey, it's not like we're in a hurry. If I'm walking too fast for you, or you're just feeling tired or hungry, let me know. I’d like to think I'm good at noticing that sort of thing but I won't be offended if I'm wrong about how you're doing.”

Keeping her eyes on Phyllis as she unzipped the bag, she couldn't help wondering about that plant on her back again. It didn't ‘look’ like it hurt, it had vines that could be used like arms, but why would any creature need something like that? She could understand wings on a bird or a large number of legs on a centipede, but a plant on a lizard’s back? Come to think of it, just what did a bulbasaur eat in the wild? Were there any wild ones? Were they as domesticated as dogs and just didn't ‘do’ wild as well as their wolf cousins? Not that Zwei wasn't a smart little guy but.. 

..great, her brain started wandering back to Remnant. It's not like she had much to distract herself from aimlessly thinking about home, especially when she was just digging through a borrowed bag for a can of that dog food styled slop.

Though the expression on Phyllis’ face when she saw the can managed to get those thoughts out of the front of her mind. That was quite definitely resigned disgust. “Hey, don't worry. I brought a few of those berries you like too. When we get to the city, the first thing I'm going to do is ask if there's anything else you can eat. Who knows, we might even find something you enjoy enough that you don't have to throw something to improve the flavor.”

Pulling out the plastic bag with berries, Yang only just realized a minor flaw in her packing. The berries themselves were fine, she’d packed them in a way to avoid crushing them. But a zip lock bag..well, it was easier to shut than open one handed. Great, so she could do push-ups and use toilet paper one handed, even figure out how to get dressed, but a frail plastic bag was too much for her.

While the one armed huntress tried and failed to open the package with just her fingers, Phyllis used her vines to open the can. Sure, no fingers but having a pair of limbs allowed one to be used to hold the can in place and the other to pull the top off. “Hey, I don't suppose you could open this thing in a way that doesn't break it, right?”

Handing it over to the vines once they were free, she chuckled a little as Phyllis stared at the see-through green bag like it was a puzzle, moving it around so she could see all the angles. After about ten seconds of thinking and looking, she took one of her vines and pointed at where it was zipped up. “Yeah, that's the part it opens. Just don't pull ‘too’ hard. We’ll want to seal it again so we’ll have more for later.”  
_________________

It was inevitable that they’d run into actual trouble later on. If anything Yang was surprised they got as far as they did considering her poor luck recently. Sure, technically she hadn't gotten killed but getting her ass kicked on a train that crashed less than two minutes later and released a small horde of monsters into a crowded city wasn't even the worst thing to happen that month.

The first sign of trouble was when the beaten path was cut off. It didn't really end, it clearly continued beyond a stretch of long grass, but the grass looked completely untouched between bits of dirt where people clearly tended to walk. As if everyone who walked through here made an absurd twenty yard leap for no apparent reason at all. Though how that worked was more than a little baffling.

Still, baffling didn't mean dangerous, just so unexpected she didn't know what to make of it, and it was very clearly still the road onwards. Well, if plants growing on lizards was normal around here, she could ignore an odd section of road, assuming anyone could call an unpaved path like this a road. Phyllis didn't seem to have a problem with walking through the grass either, though of ‘course’ Phyllis wouldn't know any potential danger any better than Yang. Not if this was her first experience with the wild.

About halfway through the grass, she saw movement. A quick wave in the green, like something was dashing in its cover. Yang’s danger sense didn't even itch, anything that small couldn't possibly be a threat to her. Then, faster than she could react, claws dug into her pants, and something started climbing all the way up to her shoulders. Something that started messing around with the zipper of her bag, not giving a damn about any of her hair in its way.

It was the threat to her hair that got Yang to stop standing there in surprise and try to do something about whatever had climbed her. With a single shift of her hip the bag slid from her shoulder to her palm, jarring the ambitious critter enough that its claws had to dig into skin in order to avoid getting thrown off. Then she threw the bag to the beaten path ahead of her, hair blazing gold and eyes crimson in indignation.

Eyes that drunk in the image of the creature that had climbed her, feeling no sympathy as its equally red eyes widened in horror. In the back of her mind, she wondered how her sister and Blake would have reacted to seeing a purple rat about the size of a poodle. Of course Weiss would have screamed. Probably the same kind of scream she had the time she saw some roaches. And maybe if it hadn't both tried to steal from her and messed with the hair, she might have thought it cute. Since it had, it was firmly in pest territory.

She couldn't get a grip on its neck or body given its position and her single arm. She could, however, grab it by the tail, tear it off her shoulder, spin it around like a bola and sling the little bastard behind her. Not the most satisfying way to deal with it, but the way it bounced off the ground like a rock in a pond, moved around dazed for a second, and then took off running the moment it regained its bearings would have to do. Apparently it took a piece of her jacket with her, some small section of the outer layer at the shoulder. Great, less than a day on the road and her clothes were starting to get tattered.

Apparently another opportunistic rat tried to go for the bag while Yang was distracted, again trying to work the zipper and not quite figuring out just what direction it needed to be pulled to open. If anything it seemed confused when it managed to close the bag a little, undoing the minimal progress its friend had made. The rat didn't have much time to understand where it went wrong before Phyllis tackled the little bastard off the bag. They almost started rolling but the plant on her back stopped their momentum and the bulbasaur used all four legs to push her opponent away, getting some distance for another tackle, forehead slamming into nose.

Yang was already halfway to the tumbling, frantically fighting Pokemon when a third rat came out of the grass. It was hard to tell if it was also going for the bag or wanted to double team the bulbasaur. Either way Yang caught up with it before it could get to either and punted the rodent right into a tree. It bounced against the trunk, landed on its feet, dizzily glared in the general direction it was kicked from, and the moment it realized the angry girl with glowing hair was charging right at it the little bastard squeaked and ran off. Good, these things were smart enough to be afraid. Maybe they’d spread word that Yang and Phyllis weren't to be messed with.

She took a moment to look at the fight, wondering how she could help only to pause and blink a bit in surprise. Granted, Phyllis had the advantage in body size and very likely weight but still. She didn't expect the little girl to be quite so dominant over the more agile rat. A dodged bite followed by an overhead stomp to the nose, followed then by another tackle. Definitely felt like Yang wasn't needed in that furball..though was that the right word for it when only one of the two even had hair?

Besides, it was kind of interesting how the little girl fought. Not just the four stubby legs, no arms, and bizarre body structure distributing weight in odd ways. The way she approached combat reminded the blond of Jaune. Defensive until the next assault came to mind, making sure every strike counted, then back to defensive. Sometimes it was one big hit, other times it was a short combo, but her one big move was the tackle. Everything else was just there to follow up that full body charge.

Part of her found it just as iffy with Phyllis as it was with Jaune. In breaking off the attack like that you completely sacrifice momentum and give up part of the initiative. Preferably in a fight you flowed from one move to the next fluidly, keeping the pressure on as well as you could while blocking or dodging whatever your opponent, human or otherwise, threw at you. Not start, back off to reevaluate and give your enemy time to recover, then essentially start from scratch again. It was also a little odd that she didn't use her vines in any way against her opponent, either to grab or strike. Maybe they were articulate but not that strong? Or was there some other reason not to use them? Speaking of strong, just how much aura was she losing with each scratch? It's not like Yang could tell at a glance. And even if she had her scroll it wouldn't have told her. Phyllis wasn't synced up with the thing anyway.

Still, there was no denying that for every lucky claw the rat landed, from grazing to something genuinely painful, it took a full body tackle with the occasional other blow mixed in. Mildly irritating strikes versus reeling blows, at an exchange rate that favored the heavy blows. Definitely looked like the battle for the bag was in the bag.

Eventually the rat decided Phyllis was just too much trouble, scampering away. Yang chuckled at the smug look on the little girl’s face, similar to something Nora would have on her face before doing her “I’m queen of the castle” thing.

Taking a quick look around to make sure there was no more trouble, Yang knelt down and gave Phyllis some petting to the top of her head. “That was some pretty solid work, partner. There's room for improvement, sure, but you can definitely hold your own against some random rats.”

There was a bark of glee at the compliment, head raised up to get some more pressure from the petting. Laughing a bit more, Yang got up to grab the bag, making a mental note to be a bit more cautious around tall grass. Sure, even a very basic beowolf could feel more threatening than what they just faced, but it's not like she was actively trying to clear the area of monsters, or that those rats could even be called monsters despite their size and signs of intelligence. Monsters would fight to the death with no care of if they were overmatched, would be aggressive for the sheer sake of causing pain. Still, no need to go looking for trouble out here. This was as good a time as any to get moving again.  
______________

Trouble found them a few more times over the course of the day. Twice when they were forced to go through more tall grass and once out in the open. So technically speaking everywhere was a little dangerous, it's just that the tall grass gave the little crooks more courage. While she wasn't caught completely off her guard again, Yang was still a little annoyed.

Hell, she wasn't even sure why specifically she was annoyed. Was it the way the road periodically cut off as if someone wanted to make ‘sure’ those rats could ambush random travelers? The fact that she also had to worry about super-sized birds? Maybe the way one of those birds outright pulled on her hair in a blatant but effective distraction?

Of course it could also have been the constant reminders, both in and out of combat, that she only had one arm and it wasn't even her dominant one. Or the fact that she didn't even have the option to use her shotgun gauntlets, to feel that satisfying recoil whenever she wanted a little extra mobility or to add some more umph to her strikes. Not that she was throwing many punches when dealing with a lot of quick critters that looked smaller than Phyllis, she was mostly grabbing or kicking. So many things to annoy her, but none of them felt like the heart of the matter.

Speaking of, the little girl pulled off a nice trick against one of the birds earlier. When it managed to grab the bag while its buddy pulled on Yang’s hair, Phyllis shot something from her bulb that embedded into those feathers. That created some kind of faint, green light which seemed to flow from the bird to the bulbasaur. Not like a string, more like a very thin river that wasn't made of water and didn't follow the laws of gravity, pretty to look at but a little confusing. Was it actually draining something? Or was it just some kind of tracking..device didn't feel like the right word there.

Whatever it was, the bird couldn't fly far dealing with both that and the weight of the bag. It maybe got three yards up before it was gasping for air, flapping more weakly but frantically as it lost the battle against gravity. Once Yang had grabbed a strap, it had given up holding on and just tried to escape. That was when the things Phyllis had shot flew back to her bulb. They looked kind of like seeds, at least when they were airborne. When they got back to the bulb they just seemed to disappear into the plant, not even a faint outline of them visible.

Of course Yang wanted to know more about that awesome trick. Even if it wasn't what brought the bird down it looked cool and probably could make it easier to keep track of something they wanted to chase if need be. She couldn't even think of anything remotely similar she had ever seen. But it's not like she could just ask Phyllis what she just did.

Ah, now she knew what was so annoying. There was nobody to talk to. She couldn't ask what she was attacked by, or what Phyllis did. There was no person to explain why there were sections of long grass that interrupted the beaten path, or why random animals would think it's a good idea to attack a random traveler. Most non-Grimm animals she’d seen in the wild either kept their distance or ignored humans. Hell, she couldn't even talk about how awesome some of those moments of defending themselves felt, like landing the first punch she’d thrown in over a week on a bird that grabbed her hair, or how hilarious it was to see a feathered pinball smack from one tree to another. Couldn't tell anyone that she could learn to enjoy a world without Grimm. Not that she missed the Grimm or..and now she was defending herself from accusations nobody was throwing at her.

It's not that Phyllis was a bad companion to travel with, far from it. It was just that there were some kinds of conversation she’d like to go through with people who could speak back to her. It wouldn't matter if it was a member of team RWBY, some random person from Beacon or even Remnant in general, or just someone who actually lived in this world. She’d just appreciate having someone to talk to who could talk back. A full on conversation, not a one sided talk with just unintelligible noises and facial expressions to consider responses. It's the sort of thing you don't think about unless it's not there for you. Was it bad she felt like she needed human on human interaction, or was that normal even here? Why did she suddenly give a damn about normal? Hell, how many times had she told Ruby it was better to be yourself than twist around to fit in?

Of course the one thing she fully appreciated in her unplanned day of traveling was it showed her that she wasn't completely helpless with just one arm. It would probably take some more getting used to for her to feel confident enough to, say, go up against three ursa on her own, but rats and larger than average birds? She could feel confident she could defend herself and others.

And what she couldn't pull off on her own, Phyllis could make the difference. Like when she decided to call it a night and set up the tent. Yang had the raw power and knowledge of what the end result should be, and Phyllis had two good vines with enough fine control to do anything delicate. Things like she’d set the support on the ground and her partner would put the screws in. Sure, setting it up was more work than she’d like but the end result felt more awesome as a result of the struggle.

So here she was, trying to fall asleep in a relatively wild area while cuddling with a lizard-dog thing with a plant growing on its back. Or at least doing the one-armed equivalent of cuddling, holding the little girl’s face against her cheek. No idea if she could ever get home and heading to a city where she’d still feel pretty out of place. Still..it didn't look as daunting as it probably should have. Was that a good or bad thing? It could just be that she was setting herself up for a fall down the line. Of course it was also possible she was being too pessimistic. Hard to tell when you're thrown in the deep end and trying to adjust.  
__________

The first sight of buildings in the distance made Yang smile. Yeah. As trips through the wilderness went, that wasn't so bad. At least compared to the time she nearly got her little sister killed walking to a random cabin, or any of the camping/training trips she and Ruby went through with Uncle Qrow. Short, and nothing really dangerous popped up along the way. Just some little thieves trying to make things more annoying. While it didn't feel like those rats and birds were spreading word to the rest of their kind about the tough travelers, they at least spread the attacks out in a way that it didn't feel like

It was early morning so there weren't that many people on the street. But every person who wasn't consumed by some early morning task like taking a compost bin back inside or grabbing some bundle of papers from the ground, unwrapping them and starting to read paused what they were doing to..stare at her. 

It wasn't the kind of stare she was used to. Normally it was a general “wow that girl is hot” or something more specific in their gaze. Tits, ass, her long and lovingly cared for hair, her muscles, she was generally proud of her appearance and typically wore things to show off just how worthy of attention she was.

But she wasn't at her best in terms of appearance. Her jacket and random t-shirt could hide a lot of things, did nothing to hug her build like most of the clothes she left back in Beacon, but it couldn't hide her lack of an arm. While it was probably a mystery to the onlookers just where her right ended, there was at least a shoulder, there was a section of sleeve that was noticeably looser than the left, and the left was the only side with an actual five fingered hand at the end? Hard to miss. Add in the claw marks on the left shoulder of the jacket and she was ‘definitely’ rougher looking than anyone else out here. 

Then there was her hair. While she’d been ‘trying’ to keep it looking about as nice as it was back home, having just one hand and not even her dominant one made it ‘very’ troublesome to deal with to the point she’d get frustrated and stop trying to tame it after a while. And that was when she had a mirror to work with back in the lab. It probably looked even worse after her little camping trip.

All in all, she wouldn't be surprised if she looked like either a bum or a thug. Steeling herself a little, she pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and unfolded it. ‘Kai’s Den’, odd name for a general store. But then who was she to say any name felt odd? She was the odd one here. 

The odd one who had to ask for directions. Walking up to the nearest gawker, she kept it short. “Hey, you happen to know where this place is? I’m picking up some things for Professor Oak.”

The guy she approached didn't show any real signs of fear when she talked to him, and he didn't seem nervous when he responded. That was a good sign, right? “It's about five blocks that way. Take a left and then your first right. You can't miss it.”

“Thanks.”

Hopefully the friend of Oak’s running the store wouldn't make her feel like an ugly duckling like the staring people in the street were doing. If Phyllis caught on to Yang’s discomfort she didn't show it. She was too busy trying to stay close while at the same time just scanning their surroundings. If Yang was in a better frame of mind, she might have been equally interested to see Viridian just waking up, getting a sense of what the locals were actually doing first thing in the morning.

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Author’s Note: Sorry this took longer than a week. Been pretty busy, and now I’m feeling guilty that I updated this before RWBY Plays Modern Warfare.

It is just a good deal easier for me to get over any kind of writer’s block, or just write for it while on a train or just walking down the street for this story than the girls playing through Modern Warfare. Here I’m just taking some broad ideas like “Yang needs to travel to Viridian, and there needs to be an action sequence showing both Yang’s current combat style and Phyllis’ opening style.”

Whereas my other big fic at this point, I need to be in the mood to watch footage of Modern Warfare (usually from my old LP of it), come up with ways to describe what I’m seeing in a way that would work for the characters, and then come up with Mystery Science Theater style commentary for four different characters. Hard to do while in a subway where you don’t have internet access on your phone and even if you did you can’t have a video open while working on a text document. It’s an either or thing.

But enough of feeling guilty about not updating my other story yet. I’ve been thinking of adding in some characters to this one, and it’s the main reason why I didn’t put this fic in the Pokemon crossover section of Fanfiction net. Pokemon itself, while it has quite the expansive world, doesn’t really do much for the characters in it. The gym leaders are mostly names, a few lines of dialogue, appearances, and team line-ups. That’s something to build a personality around but not a full on character to work with. You have the professors, the villain team leaders, the rivals, but again that doesn’t really feel like a large enough cast of characters if our hero is going to be exploring a decent section of an entirely new world.

I don’t know precisely who will be important characters as a whole for the story just yet, but I’ve got an idea of who the store owner Yang will meet in the next chapter should be. Shingen Takeda, borrowing traits from Sengoku Basara, Pokemon Conquest, and the Samurai Warriors series. He seems like he’d be the sort of person Oak would have been friends with in their youth at the very least.

Nothing is set in stone just yet, though. Just giving a warning of what I’m thinking at the moment. That said, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. We’ll see when the next one comes out.


	6. Chapter 6

Expanding a Pallet Chapter 6

As stores went, it looked fairly organized. Some Pokéballs in the camping section, some varying kinds of food for the critters mixed with food that looked very much meant for people. Really despite the odd little things that seemed normal around here it could have been any general store she’d ever been in. Pretty much everything someone on the road might want, though not necessarily the best quality. The only thing actually off was the lack of a bell or electronic ring as she opened the door. Either it was broken or this was the only store she’d ever been in that didn't want to give the workers a warning.

There were just two people in the store, a middle-aged man with a protruding gut and a young man with glasses, neither of whom seemed to notice she’d entered. Hell, they might not even be ‘expecting’ customers this early in the morning. Both had a vest with what looked like a cute cat in front of a cave. Possibly a baby tiger..assuming tigers were red around here. The older guy was probably the professor’s friend, but it couldn't hurt to be sure.

So she walked behind him, and knocked lightly on a shelf. Or at least she ‘thought’ it was lightly. It sounded a bit louder than she intended, making the younger guy jump and nearly drop what he was restocking and making her take a quick glance where she knocked. It didn't ‘look’ dented, but that was still a worrying sound. Like she’d smacked a hammer against an anvil.

The old guy didn't even flinch at the noise, just casually turned around and asked, “How can I help you, miss?”

Maybe it was the way he didn't even glance at her missing arm, or just the fact he was unphased by the loud noise. Whatever the case, she felt some of the tension from outside dissipating. “Professor Oak wanted me to pick up something here.”

His face went from a professional, well-practiced smile to a wider, more heartfelt grin. “Ah, you made good time. I wasn't expecting you for another four hours. Come, this way. It’s actually a few separate packages.”

He started moving to an out of the way doorway with a staircase, and Yang couldn't help wondering if Phyllis could even handle stairs. She certainly didn't look like it’d be an easy proposition. “Huh, you know I didn't think to ask him but just what ‘am’ I grabbing for him anyway?”

Keeping an eye on the bulbasaur as she followed the owner, she chuckled to herself when Phyllis took just one look at the stairs and gave her a stare that practically screamed “are you kidding me, I don't have anywhere ‘near’ the grace to deal with this kind of terrain”.

The man smiled as Yang stopped and gestured for Phyllis to get on the bag. He clearly wasn't in any hurry to get back to whatever he was doing earlier. “Well there was a small dumbbell, one of those one hand things. I've never been one to do that kind of exercise so I'm not sure if there's some different official name for it. Some prototypes of an interesting device he’s been working on, a convenient electronic encyclopedia. I look forward to seeing how it works when he actually installs the software for the thing. Last but not least in anything other than weight is his monthly science magazines, and your licence.”

It didn't feel ‘too’ uncomfortable to carry the bag and Phyllis on her shoulder as she went down the stairs. She just had to compensate for more of a weight imbalance. She was probably already dealing with an imbalance anyway, a few dozen more pounds on that side wasn't going to bother her. Phyllis didn't move much on the way down, but once they reached the bottom she lightly poked Yang’s chin with a vine and pointed to the ground. Based on the expression on her face, it had less to do about being scared being off her feet and more like she was embarrassed to need the help in the first place.

Gently setting the bag down, Yang gave her a quick pet. “Hey, don't worry about it. I’m happy to help whenever you need it.”

Nuzzling against the hand while it was there, the little girl climbed off the bag. Deciding that carrying it just to put it down again when they grabbed what they came for was silly, she didn't bother getting it back on her shoulder.

Not even a raised eyebrow from the old man at the short byplay or the bag staying on the ground. It wasn’t that he didn’t give a shit at all, there was just a vibe that he considered it as normal as someone yawning late at night. Considering her just walking down a street felt like she was the weirdest thing ever to grace civilization, it was actually pretty comforting.

There was an unspoken, instantly understood plan between them. The old man walked through the overstock to find one of the little packages, Yang would open a pocket of the bag, and they would try to stuff it in as neatly as they could.

The bar for the dumbbell came with some different weights for it, that was nice. Sure, back home she could bench-press a hell of a lot more than the max weight this little thing could take, but then benching wasn't going to be a thing for her anymore. She was probably going to use it mostly for curls and keeping her arm in shape, not building strength or proving something to anyone.

The “electronic encyclopedia”..well, one look at it made Yang understand why Victor had been so fascinated by her scroll. The thing looked like a plastic brick, and while she could admit that it was easier to handle one handed than a scroll, even with the small door to protect the screen and buttons, the fact that it needed an outright keyboard meant there was less room for the screen. Add in the fact that the device as a whole was smaller than her scroll was when fully opened, and there just wasn’t a lot of room to work with. Either the text would have to be pretty small or there’d be very few letters per line, both of which could easily become annoying. No speaker or slot to insert headphones, so no chance you could listen to music or use it to communicate with anyone. At best you had a slot that was for connecting it to a computer, looked like an ethernet or something that needed a similar kind of hole in a smaller slot, and what was probably something to help it recharge. It was probably unfair to really compare the two devices when the only thing the brick was programmed for was checking the time and mentioning its battery status. That said, she put one in a jacket pocket just for the sake of having a clock in an easy to reach place.

Somehow the magazines caught her off guard. She expected some dry looking texts bundled together. But the covers certainly showed these people had a sense of style and humor. A computer magazine with a polygon creature somehow smiling without a mouth, one of its legs on a paperclip with eyes and a mouth. “Advances in AI Expands Possibilities”. A biology magazine with a menacing purple ghost on the cover, its all too wide grin the stuff of nightmares and its disembodied hands holding the article title, “Busting Some Mysteries”. While she wasn't inclined to read any of it, it certainly looked like they had a good amount of flash to go with their substance.

The final item, her license, came with a wallet. One of those brown folding ones. The material felt like if rubber and leather had a love child. It wasn't too difficult to flip it open, the trouble was getting the card into one of the pockets one handed. Sure, she could have asked for help from either the old man or Phyllis, but something as simple as working a wallet felt like something she should be able to do on her own. Period. Sure, she was ‘crippled’ now but that didn't make her helpless.

After some awkward fumbling trying to hold her wallet in her elbow and insert the card in a slot she ‘somehow’ managed it. Probably something she’d get better with practice. Again, if the old man had amusement, or any reaction at all for that matter, he didn't show it. He just zipped up her bag for her and patiently waited. Putting the wallet in her jacket and making a mental note to ask the professor about money when she got back, Yang felt there was one thing she absolutely had to say before leaving. “You..aren't going to ask..”

..what was with her arm? She wasn't even sure why she trailed off mid-sentence. She ‘wanted’ to know why he didn't react to that or any of the other things that seemed to highlight she didn't belong in this strange world, but at the same time her mouth just..stopped moving.

It didn't take him long to figure she wasn't going to continue. He just gave a warm smile and replied, “We’ve all got our own paths in life. None of them really right or wrong, all of them with their own share of challenges. So really, what ‘should’ I be asking about other than if there's anything else you'll be needing today?”

Considering she literally had no money at the moment, even if she ‘did’ want something more she wouldn't be able to pay for it. “Nope, I think that's everything. I'll just get back to the professor, I'm a little curious what these gadgets can do when he's done with them.”

He nodded at that. “Sounds good. Oh, and when you get back to him, tell him that our mutual friend Kenshin is going to have a TV special on Thursday. Hold on, let me write down the time..”  
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{It was just another lazy night in the RWBY dorm room. Ruby was sketching something in her bed, and based on her face it was something that needed a good amount of concentration. Weiss was checking something on her scroll, either the news or checking about an event later in the week. And Blake was reading one of her numerous books, completely absorbed in the words on screen.

Really, it was just another pleasant night like so many others they’d shared together in that very room. There was just one little thing, one small issue. Yang wasn't there with them. It wasn't just that Yang wasn't physically there and off somewhere else for some reason. Any and every sign of her existence as a member of the team was missing.

Her bed wasn't balanced on top of Blake’s bed with some of Blake’s books. The Achieve Men poster wasn't on the wall. Her usual haphazard mess on the floor wasn't around for Weiss to complain about. No fourth towel in the closet, or a fourth bag. It was just a perfectly happy team of three..}

Yang didn't really wake up with a startled scream or horrified gasp. While the dream wasn't all that pleasant it wasn't the kind of horrific thing she’d had that involved people dying or severed limbs or her feeling helpless while bad things happened to people she cared about. What woke her up wasn't the unpleasant haze she was already forgetting.

It was Phyllis, nuzzling up to Yang’s cheek, a worried expression on her face. Huh, guess it was pretty obvious she was going through a bad dream, even if it wasn't an extreme one. Giving the bulbasaur a quick petting, the blond whispered, “Sorry if I worried you. Just thinking about some friends. Things were more than a little crazy when I..left.”

Add in the fact that she didn't leave them by choice while all hell was breaking loose and chances were she’d never see them again and it was no wonder they seemed to be haunting her. At least she didn't dream of them getting hurt, that was progress, right? Do people even get over something like this in less than a month? The only two people she knew who dealt with traumatic loss were her father and uncle. Not only did they go through something different when her bio-mom left and super-mom died, she didn't even have the option to talk to them.

Well, the sun seemed to be shining through the tent flaps, so there wasn't much point in trying to get some more sleep. Still, she wasn't alone so she couldn't just make the decision on her own. Sitting up, rubbing her eyes a bit, she gave Phyllis what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Well, you up for getting the day started right now? Or would you prefer some more rest?”

The only response was Phyllis making a soft noise from her mouth. It was almost like a sigh mixed with a meow. Where Zwei would have looked at her quizzically, Phyllis used a vine to gently rub the knuckles of Yang’s hand while getting out of the bed. Hard to say what the little girl was thinking, and not for the first time Yang wished they could actually talk to eachother, not this one sided crap. Still, work with what you’ve got, not what you wish you had.

So she got out of the sleeping bag and started working with Phyllis to put away their set-up. At least she didn't have too much to worry about on a road she’d already gone through once. At the very least she and Phyllis could easily deal with the rats. The birds, however, were a bit more annoying. Especially since most of the things Yang could do to them made them go flying, and that wasn’t much of a solution for creatures that were actually capable of controlling themselves in the air.  
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Pallet Town wasn't really a comfort to see again, even if it was more familiar. At best there were fewer people just wandering the street as she came in, and none of them paid her any attention. Hell, she was probably old news at this point. And she didn't have to ask for directions either.

Was it normal for someone going through what she did to go from a social butterfly to..well, a wallflower didn't feel like the right word for it. Ruby was certainly shy around new people, but she never showed any anxiety over asking directions or something. It was just that she had some trouble talking to anyone outside of her interests if she didn't know them too well.

But now Yang felt uncomfortable just walking down a street when less than two weeks ago she'd eagerly be the center of attention or at least be a memorable part of whatever was going on. Not that she’d been in any parties since coming here but she very much doubted she’d be the life of it.

Still, probably not something to dwell on. The professor was waiting..or possibly still asleep. Just what ‘did’ he do at seven forty in the morning, anyway? Whatever, she could just go to the part of the lab where all the technical stuff was done.

Somehow she wasn't surprised to see Victor typing up a storm. It was hard to tell if he was writing notes based on whatever ideas her scroll gave him or doing something new, but the technophile was pretty tireless from what little she knew of him. For a moment she considered knocking on a wall to announce her presence, but then she had the mental image of denting if not outright putting a hole in the plaster. So she settled for a cough. That..didn't get his attention. So she then said, “Well good morning to you too.”

That certainly got his attention. He practically tripped over his chair as he rushed over to her, and once again he found a way to remind her of Ruby as he hurriedly asked, “Did you get the Pokédexes? Did you didyoudidyou?!”

Well at least he didn't try tackling her. The guy had at least ‘some’ restraint, though honestly part of her would have preferred if he hadn't, at the very least it would have been nice for a laugh. Putting down the bag and pulling out the plastic bricks, Yang giggled when he started counting them and had a facial expression that screamed “hey, wait a minute”, pulling the last one from her jacket pocket.

If he was curious why she kept one there, he didn't ask. He just had a giddy expression on his face as he said, “Right. Now the fun begins. Hold on, where did I put that cable..”

It didn't take him long to the stray wire he wanted. While the desk wasn't up to Schnee standards of clean, some scattered notebooks, pens, and crumbs from various snacks couldn't hide the tangled black cord. It looked like an ethernet, if those kinds of wires came in smaller sizes. It was already connected to the computer, so all he had to do was plug in a device and run a program that installed the operating system. She couldn't help noticing that it was PD 1.03, which meant he'd gone through a few revisions and patches before even getting the first device.

And he used the few moments it took for the operating system to install onto the mostly blank device to start explaining about it. “Now, unlike your brilliant piece of tech, this has a lot less processing power and memory. Still, we’re using that memory pretty damn well, and absolutely everything we’ve loaded onto it is fully accessible no matter where you might be. Deep in a cave? You can still do everything you want to. Its main function is, of course, an electronic encyclopedia.”

Almost as if on cue, the installation for the first device was completed. He switched that one out for a fresh one while he accessed it and continued talking. “Now, while there are certainly more Pokémon out there, this first version only goes into detail about two hundred and fifty of them. These are the ones that are prevalent in both Kanto and neighboring Johto, so they’re the ones you’d be most likely to see from various trainers in the two regions. While we ‘could’ have stuffed in detailed information about absolutely every Pokémon that’s currently known, that wouldn’t have left any space left for ‘anything’ else, not even a clock.”

Giving an exaggerated hiss, Yang joked, “Yikes. Good thing you didn’t do that, it’d feel awkward going watch shopping.”

He didn’t seem to notice the joke, which was arguably a good thing since Yang wanted to slap herself for even thinking it. Why the hell did she even spout out a joke that she herself didn’t like?! “Some of the ‘other’ things it can do at this point are a notepad, for when you just want to take something down without pulling out a pen and paper. A calendar that can connect to the notepad for when you want to keep track of a schedule. And this latest bit I just got finished with, a low-resolution map of Kanto. Really like what I’ve done with it.”

He opened it for her, and it looked..okay. The roads looked straighter than they probably actually were, and he’d apparently decided not to bother trying to get enough resolution to show much in the way of terrain. Just some cartoonish trees to indicate forests, brown splotches to show mountains or just more rocky terrain, what looked like huts for caves, and a cartoonish house for various settlements. While it was probably better than nothing, she didn’t see why he was all that proud of it. At best she could muster an, “Okay..”

She apparently didn’t do a good enough job hiding her less than stellar opinion of that bit, but he smirked at her. “Granted, not a great resolution map, but look here. You can move this cursor like so over the location you want, hit this button here, and there, you get a description of where you are.”

She didn’t look too closely at the description he pulled up, but she was a little impressed by the little feature. Did he think that up to make up for the crappy looking map, or would he have done that even if he could have gotten a map with more detail on that little screen? “Pretty nice. Easy to see how someone could appreciate that on the road.”

Then she heard Professor Oak say something behind her, making her jolt in surprise. “I agree. Very convenient for those who want to learn more about their surroundings.”

You’d think a man who looked like he’d just woken up and was drinking his morning coffee wouldn’t be all that stealthy, but he’d managed to enter the room without a sound and given the small smile on his face he enjoyed the surprise he gave Yang. Based on the expression on Phyllis’ face, the little girl didn’t notice him enter either, much less how he somehow managed to get within five yards without somehow being noticed. Maybe that was why the guy in the store hadn’t flinched. He was used to being snuck up on.

Victor was the only one in the room who didn’t seem in any way surprised, quickly saying as he got the next brick connected to the computer, “Ah, good morning sir. Say, you think we should get one of these to Katsumi and Azul? Technically we’re still in the prototypes, and while I’m ‘hoping’ we get to mass production soon, it couldn’t hurt to get a decent variety of opinions of how it works.”  
__________________

The professor had many ideas of what the young lady’s thoughts might have been as she traveled route one with her young Pokémon. How she reacted to the unexpected, the bond that would continue to grow between Pokémon and trainer, and numerous other things. Was it wrong to want to do such an..informal experiment, so to speak, on someone who was from a completely different culture? He honestly didn’t know, and it itched at him a little.

Still, hearing what she had to say, and what she didn’t talk about, was rather enlightening, and it certainly vindicated what he’d done. She’d enjoyed herself on the road, and while she’d appreciated her Pokémon’s presence, there was still a shadow of loneliness. Technically that was better than the signs of depression she’d had when she’d just been doing things day to day at the lab, doing odd little activities on her own or whatever he’d asked her to do in order to keep herself busy and pass the time with no goal in sight.

He was willing to acknowledge that he was probably letting his own cultural baggage direct him towards a solution that felt right for Yang. There was a chance he was wrong, that it might make a bad situation worse. Still, he couldn’t help thinking that what she needed was a full on journey, it didn’t matter for what or why. Just a reason to travel around, meet various people, gain numerous experiences. Something to keep her from festering in her own mind and getting into a hole she might not be able to climb out of.

But the question was, how was he going to pull something like that off? She was too sharp for him to just come up with a random excuse out of nowhere for her to do something. If he had to come up with a way to get her to explore the world, it’d have to be something legitimate. A real reason. He certainly wasn’t convinced that her short trip sparked her to want to see the rest of the world, she’d had more of a “mission accomplished” mood about her than “I really want to see more”. She was more of a goal oriented person than he was used to dealing with, and as far as he could tell none of the usual goals of trainers appealed to her at all.

Not that she described herself as a goal oriented person in any of their conversations. Of course maybe by the standards of her world, she was rather free and loose..or had been before whatever injured her happened. Just how much was trauma and how much was upbringing? Interesting questions, but it wasn’t like he had some way to check.

Shingen could serve as a good teacher, at least for a bit. But it would need to be something she approached him for. And how was the professor supposed to convince her to try something like that? What kind of task could he give her that would require a lot of travel and someone showing her the ropes before that happened?

She apparently couldn’t care less about “being the best”. Trying to catch them all..no, the kind of attachment she was growing with her Pokémon was the kind that meant she’d probably choose to have a small team of companions, not hundreds. Hm..he ‘did’ get an email about the Indigo League wanting him to do something to spice things up to the usual yearly stuff, though they hadn’t specified what they wanted or when. Just that it would be nice for one of the old Kanto Trio of champs to make a random TV appearance and provide some commentary on a few matches at some point.

So he could use that as the reason he wanted Yang’s “help”, but what? Interviewing people? Gym leaders? Whatever trainers she happened to meet on the road? What kind of interviews? Definitely required some more thinking, but he had time. The day was still young, and letting Yang send a day or two without anything to do before giving her whatever the task he finally decided on might give it more impact when he did throw whatever it turned out to be at her.  
_____________

Author’s Note: Yeah, a major issue I’m running into is a justification for Yang to go on a journey other than this is the Pokémon world and I’ve got some things in mind to happen to her in the future. A little annoying that the games only ever made the goal “beat all eight gyms and then the champ”, so I can’t really draw on that too much for inspiration.

So I figured why not close the chapter with Professor Oak struggling with that very question, and ‘his’ thoughts are taking things in an interesting direction. How should Yang interview the various gym leaders, what kind of questions will be asked, will she have the option to throw in her own questions, will battling them be optional or part of the interview process?

Sure, we’re still several chapters away from running into the first gym, but it’s nice to think of these sorts of things ahead of time, and to give our hero a reason to be going from place to place. As it is, her mindset wants Yang to do what she did in the show, just say in one place and try to “get over” her issues and not really succeed. So since the motivation isn’t quite internal, at least not yet, then it needs to be something external, something that the professor gets her started on and that she might find herself enjoying as it goes on.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter. We’ll see when the next one comes out.


	7. The Journey Actually Starts

Pokemon RWBY Chapter 7  
The Journey Actually Starts

It was actually pretty cool to have Phyllis around everywhere.

It wasn't just the facial expressions, from uncomprehending tolerance whenever Yang decided to work out to embarrassed appreciation whenever Yang figured out she wanted something. Sure, that was both amusing and a possible indication that at least one Pokémon was smarter than the average dog, no offence to Zwei. But it wasn't what elevated her to cool.

It wasn't just the vines that helped Yang with random things, or the way the little girl tried to tell if the help would be appreciated at the moment. That would imply Yang felt that having a nursemaid was anything other than demeaning, even if she was a cute little thing.

Come to think of it there wasn't anything specific that stood out and made her feel..less depressed, really. Sure, she was definitely in a funk compared to what she was like before the attack on Vale, and part of her ‘hated’ all the changes that involved. She hated being in a place that had never even heard of Grimm. She hated not knowing what happened to her sister, her teammates, or anyone else she knew after she blacked out and went down quicker than one of Junior’s grunts. Just one fucking hit and..

Regardless of what made the bulbasaur feel cool, as she gave herself the closest thing to a massage she could after a particularly sweaty, if possibly ‘too’ strenuous workout and Phyllis tried to help soothe the mildly aching muscles, it was hard not to think the weird lizard was one of the coolest things she’d ever come across. Shame that Ruby wasn't around to have fun with Phyllis..

Before her random thoughts could start going in a legitimately depressing direction, the professor walked in, small notebook in hand. He gave Yang a quick glance, wrote something else down, did a “hmhmm” to himself, then put away the pen and asked, “I don't suppose I could ask you to help me with something long term, could I?”

Well that certainly felt rehearsed, and not very well either. Even Phyllis gave him a look that seemed to say, “Wow, you're about as subtle as a mech in a kindergarten class.”

Still, Yang wasn't busy with anything else, and it's not like she had any plans, long or short term. There was no harm in playing along and seeing where he was going with this. “Depends on how long and what it is.”

The next part he certainly seemed more comfortable with, putting the notebook on a bookshelf as he said a lot more confidently, “The Indigo League, the organization that officially runs the various Pokémon gyms and numerous tournaments in the region, approached me to do a lecture and comment on some battles. Seeing as how they didn't give me an actual date to come, just ‘at your convenience’, I figured that would allow the time for something extra on top of what they want.”

She could practically see his lab coat replaced by some cheap jacket you’d expect from a sleazy salesman. The kind that just spent the money to paint over the rust on your ‘slightly’ used car. Though maybe that was an unfair comparison. It's not that his next words were underhanded.. “You see, far too many people just see gym leaders as just another challenge to climb. A mountain in the way of the goal of being labeled as a master, or just someone to measure themselves against if they aren't inclined to be considered an elite among competitive trainers. But it occurred to me that most people don't know much about the eight leaders of Kanto outside of their names and what their gym specializes in.”

Now he was really getting into his sales pitch, his hands moving around to emphasize certain points. “These are people who have, for one reason or another, dedicated if not their ‘lives’ than at least a significant amount of time, money, and who ‘knows’ what else. All to be one of the eight ‘people’ who are without a doubt the most ‘vital’ in the Indigo League. As important as every other position in the League, from accountant to manager to the Elite Four to ‘countless’ others, I can't help thinking that the gyms and the people running them deserve more ‘credit’.”

Well it was easy to see why this organization wanted him to do some talking, once he got started he certainly became passionate. “Unfortunately, given my schedule I can't go interview them myself. It would be extremely time consuming to go from gym to gym, sit down, and have a pleasant discussion with all of them. I also wouldn't mind interviewing anyone I might happen to meet on the way to each of them. Unfortunately I probably wouldn't be able to really get trainers, especially the younger ones, to fully open up to me. Victor, while very passionate about what he does, can be at times too focused on whatever catches his interest. And Integra, while supremely intelligent and friendly, is rather shy.”

Okay. Somehow Yang was reminded of the numerous times she’d tried to get her sister to socialize more. Of when she had to convince Blake not to work herself into a barely coherent and sluggish ball of righteous fury. Or when she kept trying to get Weiss out of her snippy little shell and actually enjoy herself. Huh. Why didn't she get this feeling of going through an intervention of some sort when the professor had her grabbing the mail? Was it because ‘that’ had been a short term goal and ‘this’ sounded like a much bigger, more nebulous project? Or was it just that..feeling she had when she got to Viridian before getting what she needed and leaving? Of somehow being ‘more’ lonely the more people she saw?

Whatever the case, she tried to play it casual. “So either I’m the only person you’ve got to do it, or you only thought of it ‘because’ I don't have anything else to do.”

He had an instant of looking like a kid with his hand wrist deep in the cookie jar. Kind of interesting to see that familiar look on a middle aged man. But he recovered admirably fast and shrugged. “Does it really matter? It feels like something worth doing, you have the means..”

Yang cut him off right there. “I’m not really the news reporter type. Hell, I’d probably ask questions for things everyone else possibly already knows and just come across as an idiot!”

The professor gave her a reassuring smile in response. “You could also ask profound out-of-the-box questions that nobody else could think of. And if you're worried about feeling ‘like an idiot’, you can spend some time before actually going to the gyms with the same man I had you meet at the store. Shingen’s got a lot of time to spare, and I can assure you he won't find ‘any’ question too stupid.”

Yang took a moment to think about it. Well, she didn't have anything else to do. She didn't even have anything she ‘wanted’ to do other than go home, and she didn't know if going home would help solve her problems or just make things look more familiar while she festered in her emotional and physical wounds. Not that going home was an option. Sure, walking to at least eight different cities and towns to talk to eight different people who according to Oak were typically pretty busy..that sounded like quite the project. And it was probably something that would get tougher than she was imagining.

In the end, she couldn't ‘completely’ say yes, but couldn't think of any excuse to say definitively no. At best she could think of a few things she needed cleared up before even getting started. Pulling out her Pokédex from her pocket, she tried to ignore the pleased look on his face as she opened a file in the notepad section. He was probably happy the device was getting used so casually. She just didn't have the heart to say she was used to using her scroll for stuff like this and more. “Right. Something like this, I'm probably going to need some money to start with. I’m certainly not going to be able to carry supplies for a trip ‘this’ long in anything less than a truck, and if the road I saw between Pallet and Viridian is any hint than wheels are probably going to be impractical.”

“Of course.”

Part of her wondered what the point in roads vehicles couldn't travel over were. And that same part wondered why she didn't ask Oak. Maybe it was just the way he answered her previous questions in their other conversations. That he was fascinated at the things she was confused by. “I'm possibly going to need a way to make more money while on the road. It’d be a little ridiculous for me to come back constantly to get resupplied.”

“That should be easy enough to arrange.”

Great, he didn't say he already had an idea for that. Either the professor didn't plan ahead that well period or this idea was even more spur-of-the-moment than she thought. “And come to think of it, did you write down any questions you outright want asked?”

“Oh I made a few suggestions as I got more comfortable with the idea, but it's best if the questions came from the interviewer and flowed from one to the next. Not that you read from a script.”

Taking a quick look at the notebook in his hand, she was already picking and choosing what to write down. The ‘what do you look forward to in your week’ one was solid, but ‘what is your favorite color’ seemed too cliche. “Right.”  
_____________

Her third time traveling through what was apparently called Route One. There wasn't too much to pay attention to at the moment. While there was always the chance she could get ambushed by a rat or bird regardless of being in the long grass or not, she didn't feel like she was in any particular hurry.

So, with little else to do she opened the encyclopedia section of her Pokédex and started reading. Technically speaking it was a ‘horrible’ idea to let yourself be distracted while in the field. Not even Blake, bookworm that she was, would pull something out to read while walking in what amounted to the wilderness. She’d at least wait until they’d set up camp. Still, even the most aggressive of the critters she’d seen so far had been nothing compared to Grimm. And without the potential threat to her life, there didn't feel like any reason ‘not’ to try passing the time with something other than looking at the peaceful, barely trodden path.

May as well start with the bulbasaur entry, even if she’d skimmed it once or twice already. Nothing wrong with learning more about her partner, right? Thankfully it was the very first entry. Number one.

{Bulbasaur  
Grass/Poison Type}

Funny, she didn't ‘look’ poisonous. But then Yang had somehow managed to not notice cat ears under a bow for several weeks. Should she be worried about getting poisoned? And she should really look into what ‘type’ meant in this context.

Hm, solitary in the wild, omnivores with a preference for plants. If they're part plant and there are other creatures that are part plant, does that actually count as being carnivorous? Just what ‘did’ make someone a vegetarian in this context, anyway? And how can something do photosynthesis but still need to eat? She thought those were mutually exclusive things. Huh, so farms like to use them like shepherd dogs. Some nice bits of trivia but nothing that seemed to really make Yang feel all that surprised other than the poison thing. And nothing that felt like it would actually help her work with the little girl.

There was also a list of “moves” that a bulbasaur could learn. Again, probably something she should get some more context for since that choice of word felt off to her. Vine whip sounded kinky..and completely wrong to think about so hopefully it wasn't as perverted as she imagined. And apparently that weird thing Phyllis had done to one bird was called leech seed. Various kinds of powders with varying effects, some rather basic stuff that didn't feel like it needed a description like tackle and bodyslam. What was even the difference between a tackle and a bodyslam for a four legged creature with this kind of build, anyway? What really caught her attention, however, was ‘solar beam’.

{Solar Beam: the concentration of energy absorbed from the sun into an energy blast. Plant type move.} How did that even ‘work’? What kind of energy? Kinetic? And how was that a “plant type move”?

..okay, so looking at the encyclopedia entry and ‘moves’ were just raising more questions than answers. How much of that was her being a moron and how much was it that this world was so drastically different from Remnant?

Giving a not very humorous chuckle, she glanced at Phyllis, who was clearly trying to keep an eye out for danger to make up for Yang’s distraction. “Why, just why did I say ‘yes’ to Oak? I’ve got too ‘many’ questions, no idea how to ask them..hell, I should have asked him a lot of this crap. When should I have asked, how, just..yeesh, I feel like someone just tossed me in an ocean to learn how to swim! No build-up, no..”

Sucking in a breath, she was tempted to slap herself. Either for saying yes just because she couldn't think of a no, or for her little rant making Phyllis stare at her with concern. “Right. Guess there's not much point in me complaining. I'm kind of committed to the job at this point and it's not like I was thrown without ‘any’ kind of lifeline. This little brick is supposed to have plenty of information, and the store owner we met last time is a friend of the professor’s. Maybe he can fill in the gaps.”

And with that, Yang tried to see if there was any description of types in the Pokédex. At best she could see a number of types listed. Normal, fire, fighting, flying, ghost, grass, poison, water, psychic, steel, rock, dark, ice, fairy, dragon, ground..no particular order. No overall description of what a type is. Guess she was going to have to try figuring it out based on context when reading each individual entry. Where was Weiss when you needed her? Oh yeah, in a different world and Yang couldn't even send her a text message..  
__________

Yang wasn't that far away from the outskirts of Viridian when she heard it. A very hoarse caw, desperate but tired. A different kind of bird call than the ones she’d heard from the annoying things that occasionally ambushed her and Phyllis on the road.

Phyllis gave her a quick look, one that said she heard it too and didn't know what it meant. Yang though ‘did’ have a good idea what that meant. Something was hurt. More hurt than anything Yang and Phyllis fought against. Momentarily wishing she still had her one gauntlet, even if the bullets for it were worthless, Yang said, “We’ve got trouble. Come on.”

Yang broke out to a run without thinking. Just sheer instinct. She didn't know what she was expecting to see, or what she was going to do when she got there. Just the need to get to where the danger was.

The first thing she noticed was an indent in a tree. An indent with blood, the approximate size of the bird that suddenly went quiet, as if Yang wasn't the help it was calling for. Its eyes narrowed, and it twisted as if trying to stand. Then its moment of proud resistance gave way to agony, twisting more as it wailed.

It was definitely a different kind of bird than the ones that kept trying to steal her bag on this road. More of a red/brown than a white/brown, the beak was more curved, sharper and hook shaped. The talons were more dangerous looking too, longer, but one of the legs looked pretty gnarled. Yeesh, the dex probably knew what this bird was and if one of its legs was supposed to bend like that but it’d be useless to look through species names and hope to find the right one. Whatever trivia there was on it was probably not going to help anyway.

Blood coming from the beak, and definitely not from anything it bit into. Great. Internal injuries. Never pleasant. It was the instant she noticed the blood that Phyllis caught up, huffing a little but not too out of breath. Well she certainly didn't look built sprinting, but it was nice to know for sure.

The bird looked ready to try and fail to stand again, and Yang felt herself hiss in sympathy. “No, no, don't strain yourself. You're in no condition to try looking tough.”

Phyllis made a groan and grimaced just looking at the leg. She made some barking noises mixed with some grows and yawns..huh, almost like she was talking.

When the bird made a series of caws, yips, and a few attempts at screeching, it felt like a full blown conversation. The hell? Now she was even ‘more’ confused about the whole Pokemon/trainer thing in this place. Was there some kind of translator thing? Because she’d like to know what was being said.

After a few more moments of watching the pair exchange various noises that sounded ‘nothing’ like a language but seemed to be ‘treated’ like one, she took another look at the tree. Yang had done her share of smashing people and monsters into and through a fair number of objects over the years, and the way the trunk splintered looked off. Like it wasn't made by one extremely hard impact, but multiple hard hits. Angled upwards, so whatever did it was short. Of course if Pyrrha was here she’d probably be able to create a full picture of what happened based on what little evidence was here.

Yang didn’t have enough to know what attacked or why, but at least it didn't look like anything a Grimm would do. Not unless a boarbadusk was having trouble with that signature rolling strike. “Yeah, whatever went after you was just mean for the sake of it. Like either someone set you up to just see how much pain they could dish out, or someone had a grudge. I mean, I can get behind going to a level of brutality in a life or death struggle, but the way you were just left here..”

The bird gave her an unreadable look, though it was going to be a real pain trying to read emotions on a face with a beak instead of a snout or mouth. Still, she gave the twisted leg and blood from its beak another glance before continuing, “..yeah, that just feels unnecessarily cruel in my book. There's a city near here. Probably some people that can help get you back in flying shape..damn, not sure that just ‘carrying’ you is going to be anything other than agonizing..”

Something occurred to her. The Pokéball that she was given for Phyllis. She hadn't used it for the bulbasaur because the idea of turning a living creature into energy for storage felt weird, potentially painful, and probably other things that itched at her but she couldn't really put words for it. Still, these were serious injuries and maybe being stuffed in a little ball would be ‘less’ aggravating to those wounds than just straight up carrying.

Pulling the ball out of her pocket, hitting the button to make it larger than a marble, she tried to remember what Victor said about how to “capture” a Pokémon with the device. Then she paused because she didn't like the word ‘capture’. Especially since the bird gave the ball a rather intense stare. “Look. I’m not too much of a fan of the idea either, but it's probably the least painful way to get you to some help. After you get healthy, you can choose to go your own way, and you can avoid ever seeing humans and whatever else you don't like. But right now, I want to help. Nod if you're willing to let me.”

There was a long, tense moment where the bird glanced at the ball, Yang, and then Phyllis. Phyllis gave a reassuring smile, or an approximation of one. And slowly, the bird nodded.

With that, Yang activated the capture beam and the ball clicked itself shut, just some ruffled grass and blood to show a bird used to be there. Putting the ball in her jacket, Yang said, “Sorry Phyllis but I think we're going to need a lot more speed. Get on the bag, I don't want to leave you in the dust again. Especially if whatever hurt this guy is still around.”

There was a moment of hesitation, then the bulbasaur scrambled into place and extended her vines to steady herself. The vines went under her right armpit, acting like the second strap of her bag. Ignoring the feeling of something that made her want to use her nonexistent arm to adjust herself, she broke out into a run, pulling out the dex and looking for the entry of Viridian. Oh please say there was something mentioning some kind of Pokémon hospital. She wasn't asking for a map, just a term to ask someone. Pokémart? No, sounded like a store. Center? Hm..possible but was there anything else? Maybe something with the word hospital?  
______________

Katsumi was just taking a quick nap in a Pokémon Centre, or at least trying to. Cap over his eyes, laying down on the couch, he hadn't been on the road for long. Hell, it’d been less than a week since he’d left Pallet Town and started his journey. He’d done some early morning training, Kiryu had certainly seemed to appreciate that, and figured he’d get a few winks while he thought of what to do next.

Of course napping in a Pokémon Centre was a questionable idea. Sure, it was a slow day for them but a place where people go to treat their injured or tired Pokémon was prone to the occasional emergency.

This emergency slammed the door open, heavy footfalls followed by a female voice with a steel behind it. “Got a very serious injury here!”

The sound of the door smashing into the wall made him jump off the couch and he promptly smacked the ground. It was hard to tell what stung more, his head or his knee. Either way, the linoleum won that exchange. The nurse behind the desk sounded just as surprised as he was. “Wh..well, that's what we're here for. Just place the Pokémon in question on the table and-”

The woman cut the nurse off. “Oh we are ‘not’ talking aura depletion and a skinned knee! We are talking broken leg and internal bleeding! So unless you’ve got a ‘lot’ more equipment than I'm seeing in here, prep an emergency room and get a gurney!”

Well that sounded bad. Not that he’d ever heard HP referred to as ‘aura’ before. Yeah, that ‘would’ probably need more than the reception desk could deal with in a hurry. Shifting his hat above his eyes, Katsumi..lost all train of thought, and practically lost his hearing. Well, technically his ears still received sound, but his brain couldn't register anything. He was too..distracted.

The woman was ‘tall’. He didn't have a measuring tape but she looked twice his height. Sure, he hadn’t hit his growth spurt yet but holy crap, she’d definitely tower over his mom. Hell, her ‘hair’ could probably hide him! It was a wild mane that practically seemed to glow, as if it felt the lights around it didn't highlight its glory nearly enough. Thick, not really blonde, more like a golden blaze. And did he mention long and possibly glowing?

The next thing he noticed were, of course, her breasts. Even with a jacket and loose T-shirt it was obvious that she had a pair that made a number of models look underdeveloped. He couldn't get too much of a sense of the shape but he could imagine, oh god could his hormone addled mind imagine..

..and he could also imagine why her right sleeve looked emptier than the left. That cooled him down enough for a quick shiver and he could start hearing the world around him again. Crap, what could do that to someone? Accident? Criminal assault? An especially vicious and hopefully rare Pokémon?

At this point someone in a medical coat joined the nurse, pushing a table. Was that what a “gurney” was? A few words were exchanged, the woman pulled out a Pokéball, opened it..and a pained screech filled the air.

The first thing Katsumi noticed was it was a spearow. A spearow with blood coming from its beak. The next was the look on the woman's face, a wince of sympathetic pain. “Yeah, that's why I said get an emergency room ready.”

The nurse somehow managed to avoid screaming, but her face certainly looked like she wanted to. Mouth wide open, eyes practically bulging out of their sockets, a hand over her heart, she couldn’t make a sound. The man in the medical coat just narrowed his eyes and rushed the table out of the reception area. Seems he was at least more experienced with traumatic injuries..which again made Katsumi feel a chill, and he audibly gulped.

That gulp made the woman turn to face him, and what he’d ‘thought’ was just a decoration on her bag turned to face him too. Okay, so she was carrying a bulbasaur and whatever else was in her pretty large bag without any difficulty at all..so strong and attractive looking, but probably not in any mood for a twelve and a half boy to try flirting with her, so.. “Um..hi.”

There was a short, humorous snort before she said, “Hi.” back, walking to the couch he’d been laying on, setting down her bag and sitting right next to it. It was a very heavy sit, definitely not from exhaustion or anything similar and more from not caring about any possible pain from just dropping onto the stiff thing. Given the thud the bag made, it was ‘definitely’ even heavier than he thought, and as he looked at the door she’d slammed open earlier, it was hard not to feel more intimidated than being near an attractive girl should have made him feel. Holy crap, she’d torn the door off one of its hinges. It still had two solid grips to the door frame, but the top end had completely ‘splintered’, and he didn’t want to know what happened to the knob that smacked against the wall. His sense of self-preservation screamed, “don’t even try to talk to the sexy lady, she probably won’t even ‘need’ the one hand to crush you”.

And predictably, he ignored that part, but at least had the good sense to not gush over how he’d never seen a girl as busty as she was. “So, um..how did your spearow get hurt?”

It was hard to read those violet eyes. She wasn’t offended by the question, thankfully, but there was something about them that was pretty absorbing. A cocktail of emotions that kept shifting and churning, and he didn’t know what to make of them. “I wouldn’t say the little guy’s mine. I found him like that on Route One, crying out for help and figured I may as well help him out since I happened to be there.”

Something about that sounded off to Katsumi. “Wait, ‘alone’ and in ‘Route One’?! I thought spearows flew in flocks, and, hold on..”

With that he pulled out the device that the professor sent him, turning it on and opened the map, moving the cursor where he wanted it to go. Just before he could start double checking the entry on Route One, the blonde laughed a moment. “So, you got one of those, too?”

She then pulled the same device out of her coat, checked it, and said, “Come to think of it, it couldn’t hurt to recharge the thing. You see any handy outlets on the wall?”

Now his confusion was even larger. “Wha..but..I thought this thing was still a prototype?! I got one because I was starting my journey and my mom’s a good friend of Professor Oak!”

She shrugged at that, and he ‘tried’ to keep his eyes on her eyes, not on the empty sleeve, and ‘certainly’ not on the massive jugs. “Well, I just happened to be around, he has a project he wants me to do, and it’s pretty easy to take notes in this thing. Still a lot of room for improvement for the thing, but maybe I’m just nitpicking.”

Okay, he was ‘officially’ talking to her. Sure, about something that he hadn’t paid all that much attention to but that was better than nothing. “Well, it’s nice to be able to read up on so many Pokemon anytime and anywhere, and I liked reading about Viridian City just before entering it.”

She gave an uncommitted nod at that, “Sure, but a lot of that is just kind of interesting trivia. Not anything I’d call useful. No suggested places to eat, for example, and no list of stores. Just a mention that the ‘Pokémart’ is near the ‘Pokécenter’, some stuff about the city’s history, and mentioning it has a gym. And if you run into something you don’t know, there’s no way to narrow down the search results, so you’re looking through hundreds of species names and hoping to stumble onto whatever you’ve just seen. Best things I think it does are tell the time, let me write things down, and just help kill some boredom while traveling.”

Katsumi tried to remember what he’d read about Viridian just before entering the city. Ground type gym led by Giovanni Acerbi, it was the closest city to the Indigo Plateau so it had frequent tournaments that got plenty of TV coverage, there’s a nearby lake that was a nice tourist spot.. “..hm, yeah, I think I see your point. I..kind of took a nap here because it never mentioned any inns or motels, and the centre didn’t look all that busy at the time..”

The girl continued making complaints about the Pokédex, definitely having put a good deal more thought into trying out the device and testing it out than he did. No wonder she’d been given one if she could think of so many things wrong with it off the top of her head. “There’s also the fact that when I looked up types, it’s disorganized and painfully uninformative. Seriously, look here. ‘Bug type: a Pokemon that looks like a bug’. Yeah, think I got that from the name of the type. Anything else you want to mention? How many different bug Pokémon there are in the world, maybe some links to the bugs that we’ve got descriptions of in this thing? Or what about how it fits in with the other, hold on let me double check..fifteen other types. I’m not saying I’m ungrateful to have it, but even with the limits they’ve got they should have been able to..”  
_____________

Author’s Note: And that does it, the chapter’s done. It’s a bit longer than usual but I was enjoying myself working on it.

You’ve got Yang actually being given a job that’s more thought out than just “beat the gym leaders and catch however many you can along the way”. We’ll see how the interviews go, but I’m looking forward to giving the various gym leaders some time to shine outside of just kicking some ass and being an obstacle.

There’s Yang’s first capture, a spearow. Always felt that pidgeys have overshadowed the other early bird type of the first few games, so giving our hero an angry bird felt like a solid idea. Still working on a nickname for the little guy, so I welcome suggestions. What hurt him, why so brutal? Was it a young trainer with little sense of empathy going through training, or something more dangerous for this world?

There’s the various things that occurred to me would be rather annoying about the Pokédex, and the fact that Yang is used to far more capable hardware. Of course she’s going to find more things to bitch about in terms of user interface and how little information of substance there is to work with. Seriously, the dex entries in the games are typically so short it reminds me of the “mostly harmless” thing from Hitchhiker’s Guide.

And of course there’s the meeting between the canon Red, named Katsumi Kojin in this story, and Yang. I’m not too sure how much of a role he’s going to have in the story just yet, but at the very least we probably need someone who’s more familiar with this world for Yang to bounce off of occasionally, and it’d feel more tempting doing things about the characters traveling from town to city to wherever if there’s more than just “our hero and her team were randomly attacked by random creatures on the road who felt for some reason that the protagonist needs some trouble” to go on. I’d hesitate to call them a team just yet, but at the very least they’ve spoken and Shingen’s going to be seeing two people in his store in the next chapter.

That said, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. We’ll see when the next one comes up.


	8. Mysteries Just Find You

Pokemon RWBY Chapter 8

Mysteries Just Find You

Maybe it was just a desperate need for someone to talk to who wasn't as old if not older than her father. Or maybe it was a need to talk to ‘anyone’ and it would have felt just as nice regardless of who it was. It just felt ‘right’ to talk to the kid, Katsumi.

Sure, he was younger than Ruby, and she’d caught him glancing at her chest a few times, but it was nice. She didn't feel like a complete freak like she had when she’d asked for directions to the store or to the center. She wasn't quite comfortable enough to start ‘teasing' him though. And good god, the fact that she’d even ‘consider’ doing that felt like a bad sign in itself. Sure, good kid but he seemed more pathetic than even ‘Jaune’.

At least Jaune would have thought to have a sleeping bag when on the road even if he was stupid enough to forget a tent. “It's not that bad. It's not like it's rained lately or something.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “Hey, if you're desperate enough to try napping on a random bench, you're not sleeping right. What, you worried that you won't have enough money or something?”

His answer caught her off guard. “..yeah, let's go with that.”

Huh, well that certainly sounded like he had a problem and didn't want to talk about it. Part of her wanted to pry if only because hearing someone else's problems was probably better than festering in her own. Still, they’d only just met. It was already awkward enough that they’d been talking this long and he’d followed her from the center to Kai’s Den.

So she just gave a shrug and said, “Well, I've got things to do and someone to talk to in there. If you don't want to even look in the store then that's your business. Nice meeting you, kid.”

She barely heard the “It was nice meeting you too.” before the door shut, probably because she held it open just long enough for Phyllis to walk in, and she looked around. Despite the fact that it was definitely during business hours, there were fewer people in a general store than she’d expected. Hell, the workers outnumbered the customers about two and a half to one.

Still, there were few enough people that she could easily see the old man from last time. He seemed more comfortable watching how his employees worked than actually doing anything. Given the slow moment it was hard to say what he was looking for. But he certainly noticed Yang as she walked towards him. “Ah, a pleasure to see you again, young lady. How is the professor doing?”

Well he was eager to pretty much force the lost cripple to get used to this new world. So the professor was kind of an ass, even if she understood at least part of why he did it. “Well he threw a big job at me the day after I delivered his stuff, so probably busy. Part of why I'm here really. He said you might be able to help?”

Giving a short “hm”, he gave her a reassuring smile. “Gladly. If Samuel Oak trusts you to do something than I’ll be happy to help. Just tell me what's giving you trouble.”

She gave a short, humorless laugh. “What isn't? Apparently I have to go to eight gyms to ‘interview’ the leaders. He gave a little speech about how people don't know enough about them, and here I am, probably going to come across as an idiot when I ask a lot of clueless crap because I don't know what I'm talking about!”

One or two of the people in the store gave her a hard to read look for a moment, and part of her felt it probably would have been better if she’d whispered or something. It's not like she’d burst into tears or started yelling, just that she was starting to get the impression she no longer liked attention. After around seventeen years of enjoying being the life of the party, it was a little jarring.

Thankfully it looked like the old man caught at least part of her anxiety. “Yes, that would be more than a little unnerving. Shall we go to my office, such as it is, and we can go into more detail about what you feel you need to know, maybe go through a practice interview to get a feel for how to handle the real thing?”

Based on the look of the store his office was probably downstairs, away from any uncomfortable stares. “Yeah, that sounds good. Lead the way.”  
_____________

Calling it an office seemed more than a little too generous. A couple of plastic folding chairs were set up, one sitting next to a rusting filing cabinet. Three more chairs were leaning against a wall alongside a board with folded up legs. Kind of gave the impression that the room wasn't used much. Add in the lack of a computer or windows and it was a good thing she wasn't turning claustrophobic, too.

Phyllis didn't seem to be much of a fan of it, either. A few sniffs, a tentative swipe against the side of the filing cabinet and a look of disgust at the sheer amount of ‘fur’ from the clearly underused metal. What, did the guy buy the building and nobody decided to throw out the furniture nobody actually used? And why didn't they do anything to clean the cabinet? The chairs were a lot less dusty.

That said, Yang plopped her butt on a chair and pulled out the dex. “May as well start with this since it's still fresh on my mind. While I like the fact I can use this thing anywhere and write notes one handed, the fact is it's got either vaguely interesting trivia or nondescriptive nothings. So my first thought to read from this to get some kind of foundation to work with? I’d call it a waste of time if there was anything else I could have been doing other than just keep walking.”

That certainly caught his attention as he pulled his chair in arm’s reach of hers and took a seat. “Not informative enough, or at least not in the right places. An interesting insight. Would you mind giving an example?”

Accessing the entry about spearow, Yang handed the device over to him. “Ran into one of those on Route One. You have to go to a completely different section to know if it's usually seen in that area, and it isn't. You have to know the exact name of the thing you've run across to even get to the right entry, which I didn't until ‘after’ I got the poor bird to a center. I even checked under flying type. No links to any species, nothing about any kind of first aid, or even how the types interact with one another in any way! Just a broad flying types can fly sort of thing. So I have to rush a ‘very’ hurt bird I can't even name to a center I've never been to and just hope that ‘moving’ it didn't aggravate its injuries.”

He nodded at each point she made, scrolling through the Pokédex but clearly paying attention. “Hm, I see. Looks like they used the Encyclopedia Unova for the Pokémon entries. A fun read, but it's better for people who already know a good deal from the start. And I can't think of many starting trainers who would know enough for that to suffice. Nice of you to catch that. For curiosity sake, what kind of wounds did this spearow have?”

The kind that no predator or Grimm would settle for, and yet beyond a vigorous self-defense. “We’re talking a broken leg and internal bleeding. Whatever the little guy ran or flew into was small, strong, and ‘vicious’. Like it wanted to see what would break first, the tree or the bird, and it just left the poor guy to die painfully.”

That got him to stop looking at the dex and frown in thought. “That..is definitely odd. And there was no sign of the rest of the spearow’s flock?”

She shook his her head. “No. Either they decided to get out of there when things went bad or they weren't there to begin with.”

Handing the device back to her, he leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling in an unfocused way. Like he wasn't actually looking at it, just pointing his head at something and letting his brain digest what he’d just heard. “The second possibility feels a lot more likely but still not all that plausible. While it's not unheard of for a spearow to break from the rest of its flock, they aren't long range fliers. And even if one decided to go off on its own, they would certainly come help if they heard anything that would leave that kind of aftermath. Very strange. I’ll ask around if this is a one time thing or the start of a disturbing trend..”

Great, so a bird getting mauled like that was as new to the old man who lived in this world his whole life as it was for the girl who had no idea what normal was around here. Was that supposed to be reassuring or terrifying? All she felt was annoyed. “Was kind of hoping for a more comfortable answer than that. Still, if you don't know either than you don't know. I don't suppose you know more about Pokéballs than me, do you?”

His eyes became more focused again. “While I wouldn't be able to build one from scratch, I’d say I have a solid idea of how to get them to work and their effect on Pokemon.”

“Yeah, it's the second part that I'm wondering about. I may not know much of anything about that bird, but I could tell just lifting it up was a terrible idea. Human or otherwise, internal bleeding isn't pleasant. But I had to get it to help ‘somehow’. Sure, I had a ball but I've got no idea if it made things worse or something. All I know is it's supposed to be ‘convenient’.”

He gave her a reassuring smile. “Don't worry, you did the right thing. When a Pokéball covers a Pokémon in light, it essentially slows down time for the creature. I’m not sure about the exact mechanism of it myself, but what it amounts to is this. A half hour in one translates to about a second and a half to the creature inside. While that means any fatigue it felt before going in would still be a factor, hunger and any toxins in its system are slowed down to a crawl. And I'm very confident that storing that spearow in one slowed its bleeding.”

Well that was a lot less technical than Victor’s explanation. Still, something about stuffing your supposed “friends” into little balls and stuffing them in your pocket was disturbing on plenty of levels. At least to her. Was it wrong that she'd used her only one on a creature she’d just met instead of Phyllis? Would Phyllis even ‘like’ getting stuffed in a ball if she was embarrassed needing help getting down the stairs?

Apparently he caught some of her worries just looking at her. “There's nothing wrong with not wanting to put a Pokémon in a ball and letting them roam free. It's all about what makes you and your team feel more comfortable.”

She felt herself twitch at the word ‘team’. If he noticed he didn't ask, just continued his previous line of thought. “That said, a Pokémon that is linked to a ball has, for lack of a better way to put it, a shield. So even if you don't actually leave yours in one, just registering a ball with a Pokémon can prevent someone from accidentally capturing or easily stealing them.”

And then his smile turned more mischievous. “I'd be happy to give you a good deal on some. If you buy ten, you’ll get one free.”

Maybe it was the timing, the delivery, or a combination. Something about the way he said that cheesy sales pitch got her laughing. Not a full on, knee slapping laugh but still heavier and freer than anything she'd done since the start of the Vital Festival.  
_________

Giovanni was many things. A supremely skilled trainer, a gym leader, a father, a businessman and someone willing to take risks for his ambitions. When he’d heard that the lab he’d paid good money for had a disaster, he’d dropped everything and rushed there as quickly as possible. Nobody knew what happened, all anyone could say with any certainty was that something had gone wrong and nobody, not even a janitor, could be contacted. And this was one place he couldn’t afford to have any “mysteries” leave him in the dark.

While there wasn't anything ‘incriminating’ at the lab, there were a number of projects there he’d wanted to keep under wraps. The fossil revival project, the cloning experiments, and most importantly the Porygon and MewTwo projects. They were to be his trump cards when he gathered enough resources for more than backroom deals, money making schemes, and gathering the people and Pokémon he’d need. A goal thirty years in the making. It wasn’t absolutely ‘necessary’ for it to be completely unknown to the rest of the world, just preferred. Especially since he didn’t want anyone else with a good sized budget thinking of creating their own Pokémon in vats and other artificial means.

So as he approached the lab and saw the officers at the perimeter, his stride shifted from his usual, confident gait to something more aggressive. These people were in his territory, and regardless of their “duty” he would learn what happened here. They only deserved scraps of information at best, and the fact that they had arrived on the scene before he had meant someone had screwed up. He’d find out who and deal with them later.

The first thing that caught him off guard was when one of the two at the front door radioed someone. “Mr Acerbi has arrived, sir.”

He was expected, and referred to in a respectful tone. He hadn’t called ahead to warn anyone, he hadn’t even known he’d be arriving here today or what kind of disaster had happened. Most officers outside of Celedon and Viridian wouldn’t know who he was by sight, and the ones in Viridian only knew him because he was that city’s gym leader. Technically this was good news, better than the sort of mindless honest cops who’d try to keep him out of his own property he might have expected, but still. Police, even police that he owned, had better have a good explanation for being here. Especially since the number of squad cars and trucks implied this wasn't something his influence could sweep under the rug.

The officer in charge walked through the door, and it took Giovanni a moment to recognize him. Howard Branden. Second in command of Cinnabar Island’s Precinct 5. He was only loyal to his paycheck, not to his bosses or any cause. He wouldn't have come here for damage control unless Giovanni outright told him to. So whatever happened here was big. As if the other indications weren't aggravatingly ominous enough.

The man looked..paler than last time Giovanni had seen him. Sickly, shaken, the sort of emotional crash you’d expect from some vegetarian who’d never seen blood before just got a tour in a butcher shop. Curiouser and curiouser. The man had killed some people on Giovanni’s orders before, so it wasn’t that he was squeamish..

Branden extended a hand, a shaky one, in greeting. “It’s good to see you, Mr Acerbi. Hell, it's good to be out of that ‘morgue’.”

Gripping the hand firmly, the combination of oddities had drained whatever anger he may have had. “I had heard there was trouble at the lab, but nobody could tell me any specifics. Perhaps you could enlighten me.”

There was an attempt to laugh to get the tension out, but it was more of a coughing whine. “It's a horror movie in there. Most of the people we’ve come across are dead, and that's just in the areas we can reach without security clearance. I doubt those will look any better.”

One word in particular caught his attention. “Most?”

“There were a few survivors. We brought them in for questioning but..well, they're downright ‘feral’. One of them just ‘tore’ his hand out of the handcuffs. Peeled off some skin and muscle so he could gouge the eye out of the officer holding him. Both of them are in the hospital now. Another killed herself smashing her head against the window of the car that tried to take her away. We had a psychic look at them, and he said it was like something had poured white out in their minds and threw a ‘need’ to fight in there. That it was lucky whatever did that didn't blank over the need to ‘breath’.”

One of the officers guarding the door gave Branden a look, like he was flabbergasted his superior was just saying all this to a civilian, even if they knew eachother. Giovanni paid it no mind. He was..stunned. Horror movie indeed. Psychic explosion of some kind?

No, nothing in the Porygon line had shown the power to do anything that severe. And certainly not the inclination. They were essentially blank slates, psychics that had no personalities installed into their artificial bodies at this stage..or at least the state they were in before the lab stopped sending daily reports.

Perhaps MewTwo? No, too early. The projections were optimistic about its power when it would finish developing, but it still wasn't in any shape to be born. Hell, it shouldn't even be able to perceive the world around it yet, much less interact on any scale other than what the machines connected to it could read. Heart-beat, brain activity, various things to project its current health and what it was projected to become based on the readings.

Still, those were the only two psychics he knew the lab was working on unless the one fossil they'd brought in was a psychic and nobody knew it. The idea of a rock/water type had him curious, but he’d been assured..no, assurances apparently didn’t mean anything at this stage. Staring at the door with a determined glare, he gave Branden his orders. “Get me two of your best men, I want keen eyes and sharp minds. Not brainless drones.”

For a second the man cringed, either because Giovanni gave him an order out in the open or just the thought of whatever he’d seen in there. “Are..I’m afraid..”

Yes, it was quite obvious he was afraid. But it would take more than a useful pawn being timid to stop the leader of Team Rocket. “Something happened here that cost me a good deal of skilled, specialized manpower and years of investments. I want to know what caused this, something internal or if there was a break in. If it was then external I want to know who and why, and if not specifics than very educated guesswork. I also want to know if there's anything to salvage from this disaster. Written records, recordings, anything that will ensure this is not a total loss and that might give us a better understanding of what happened here. And on the off chance there’s anything locked up in there that’s still dangerous, I want anyone with me to have their best Pokémon out.”

Branden just opened and closed his mouth like a fish, wordlessly. The perimeter officers had unconsciously straightened their backs, even if they didn't recognize his authority they could ‘feel’ it. Whatever the police learned he could deal with later. Those he couldn't buy or frighten were distant. Right now he had a very serious problem, and he wanted to know just how deep it went. Then he could think about shovels, both proverbial and literal, to solve the problem and the spiderweb of other issues it was libel to create.

He didn’t bother waiting for his orders to translate to action. They would. He just walked towards the door, ignoring the intimidated guards as he thumbed the ball for Rhyhorn. Possibly a bit too heavy for the upper floors, he’d have to switch to Sandslash or Persian, but for the bottom floors a large rhino of rock should smash through anything in the event of his codes not working for some reason.  
________

Yang still felt like she didn’t know much if at all. Maybe because she was the type to learn through experience better than someone telling her crap. Or just the fact that she was taking seventeen years of prior experiences and filing them under ‘non-applicable’.

Not that talking to the old man was a waste of time. Every question she’d asked, he’d answered to the best of his ability, never seeming baffled at how little she knew. It wasn’t a sort of patient babying, or the kindly forceful attempts to help her adjust to her new environment like the professor seemed to go for. It was observant but not prying, clearly capable of seeing when there was more to her question than she said and only addressing those unspoken things if it was something she considered uncomfortable somehow. Hell, the guy threw in the occasional joke when appropriate, that put her on her good list for sure.

Still, she had to come back to the center. This was about the time that the nurse had told her the bird would be at one hundred percent health and aura. Granted, two hours seemed ‘very’ short considering how extensive the damage was, but this world had some kind of drink that restored aura. That kicked the ass of any medical tech that Remnant had, and that was just stuff they sold in a store. The stuff their hospitals had was probably a good deal better than that. Too bad there wasn’t anything that could regrow limbs..

She shook off that line of thought before it really got started, opening the door more carefully this time than when she’d first come in. She wasn’t really embarrassed by the damage she’d done in her rush, if anything the fact that the damn thing was still attached to ‘some’ of the hinges was pretty impressive. She’d known ‘walls’ that wouldn’t have held up to force like that. It’s just that she wasn’t in any real hurry this time.

Still, the nurse immediately noticed her entrance, perking up for some reason. Possibly the fact that there weren’t too many other people in here. Come to think of it, why wasn’t there a chair behind the reception desk? Just standing around like that had to be a bit of a pain.

Not that she showed anything other than happiness at seeing Yang again. It wasn’t a plastic, plastered on smile of someone who just wanted to look happy because it was part of the job. It was warm, genuine..or just extremely practiced to the point that it was hard to tell. “Ah, miss! Your spearow is ready for you to reclaim.”

She picked up the Pokéball from under the counter and held it out. Taking it, Yang still couldn’t help feeling conflicted about the very idea of these things. It was like Blake was in her ear trying to debate the morality of this sort of thing and nobody was giving a counter argument. Rolling it in her hand a moment, she asked, “Any complications I should know about after this? Leg a little gnarled, that sort of thing?”

The nurse had a split second of confusion, as if the question needn’t be asked, then an even shorter instant where her eyes zipped from Yang’s face to the stump of her arm and then back to her face before returning to the warm smile from before. Yeah, definitely a well practiced smile. “No, he’s perfectly healthy now. I understand your concern, though.”

Oh she bet the nurse did, the same way she’d bet Pyrrha could sympathize with someone getting their ass kicked. Still, it was nice to know she was ‘right’ this time about the gender she was referring to the bird as. Fifty/fifty chance, so at least she wasn’t ‘too’ unlucky despite recent events. Putting the ball in a jacket pocket for now, she pulled out her wallet as she asked, “Okay, so how much do I owe you?”

This time the confusion didn’t disappear in a split second. “Pardon?”

For a moment Yang felt her eye twitch. Hopefully it wasn’t turning red due to annoyance at asking a second question nobody else apparently would in less than a minute. Did this lady mean to say that a Pokémon Center, a place that looked so clean and apparently had state of the art medical equipment, didn’t charge people for using it? Just how the hell did they ‘pay’ for all of this, then?! Still, she managed to keep those burning questions inside and shifted to the other possible thing needing payment. “I kind of broke your door last time I came rushing in. Didn’t you notice?”

Based on the way her eyes shifted to the door and she mouthed “oh”, she hadn’t noticed. Good god, a significant section of the upper corner had been completely splintered, a hinge hanging limply from the wall! How do you not notice something like that for several hours when there’s nothing else to look at?!

Once she recovered from her surprise, the nurse once again went back to that smile. “Oh that’s no problem. We have more than enough surplus funds for that.”

Surplus funds from ‘what’?! If they weren’t going to make people pay for their medical help or damages, then how were they getting their ‘money’?! And along those same lines, just what did the professor have in mind for paying ‘her’ while she was on the road?! Still, Yang didn’t voice those frustrated questions. She just put the wallet back in her pocket and tried to look nonchalant as she shrugged. “Okay then.”

As she turned around to leave, she couldn’t help noticing the concerned look in Phyllis’ eyes. Apparently her little partner was observant enough to see something was bothering her, even if the nurse was oblivious as all hell. The woman’s parting line ‘definitely made her eyes go red. “We hope to see you again!”

She hoped Yang would come back with more wounded Pokémon. She..’wanted’..the very creatures that the professor claimed were ‘friends’ and ‘companions..no, simmer down, don’t break the door even more on the way out. Deep breaths, wait for Phyllis to go through the door, then slowly shut the door and resist the urge to ‘scream’ in directionless anger.

A gentle nudge at her shin took some of the rowing tension away, and she knelt down to pet her little buddy. “Yeesh, and I thought ‘Weiss’ went through culture shock when she first came to Beacon. This..definitely going to take plenty of getting used to. Just when am I going to ‘stop’ feeling so confused around here?”

Phyllis made what was probably supposed to be a comforting noise, almost like a meow, as she nudged her head against Yang’s hand. In some ways it reminded her of Zwei, but as good as her dog was, as helpful as he tried to be, there was just something..deeper here. She couldn’t really explain it. Zwei was part of her family, but would she ever think to have a one sided conversation with him?

Because that was exactly what Yang felt like doing right now. “Seriously, I’ve been around for over a week and it just feels like I’m getting way more questions than answers. Maybe ‘that’ is why the professor wanted me to do the whole interview thing, I’m so clueless that I’ll downright make the people I’m talking to stumble because I’m asking stuff nobody else ‘needs’ to ask. I swear, even as a ‘kid’ I never felt like such an idiot.”

Still kneeling, she shifted her hand from Phyllis’ head and pulled the ball out, expanding it and releasing the bird inside. He certainly looked in better shape than when she first saw him. He stood up, stomping the ground a bit as if to test just how firm his previously broken leg was before he was satisfied. Then he took a moment to look at his surroundings, taking in a breath before turning to face Yang. Those narrowed eyes were respectful but evaluating.

Giving him a smile, she hoped it was a comforting one and didn’t show any of the anxiety she was nearly constantly feeling at this point. “Nice to see you aren’t in any pain right now, but how do you feel, little guy? Do you feel good to go?”

Flapping his wings a moment, he gave a caw, and the blond couldn’t help chuckling at that. “Yeah, somehow got the feeling you’d say that. So now the question becomes, do you want to keep hanging out with me, or do you want to go off on your own, maybe get back to your friends and family?”

He didn’t even hesitate, just took off for a short bit to land on her right shoulder, giving another caw. While part of her was annoyed he chose ‘that’ shoulder to land on, it was the same minor annoyance as when Phyllis had wrapped her vines there for stability earlier. Moving her left hand to pat him on the scalp lightly, the two stared at one another. Yeah, she’d just made a new friend. Not one that could talk back to her but still, it was..nice.

Now all she needed to do was think of a name for him, because “little guy” felt way too generic to keep calling someone she’d probably spend a lot of time with. Kestrel? No, didn’t have a color associated with it. Rowan? Hm, while there was red on him that was just the wings. His head and back were brown, his belly tan..well, since most of his body was brown, maybe a name that took that into account was a good one. “Okay, I was told that giving my partners names was a thing, so..how do you feel about the name Duncan?”

He took a moment to turn the name around in his head. He probably didn’t know what the name actually meant, so he was just going by sound. Then he gave a nod, and Yang’s smile widened a bit. “Right, so Duncan it is. Nice to meet you. You already know Phyllis down there..”

The pair started making noises at one another, that strange talking without actually using language thing again. If this was a movie or video game there’d probably be subtitles, and suddenly she wished the dex could offer something like that. Still, they seemed to be getting along.

Now, what was she going to do next with her day? While she ‘could’ go off to find the local gym, she still didn’t feel comfortable enough to go to a guy who apparently was part of some test for trainers trying to get to more competitive things. And going back to the old man just to ask aimless questions somehow didn’t feel right either. But really, what else ‘could’ she do other than..

..a piece of paper blew towards her. Something that looked like it was torn right off a wall by a gust of wind, and she saw the corners of the sheet sticking to the side of the Pokémon Center. Wind that didn’t feel anywhere near strong enough to rip paper..and that wasn’t even blowing in the direction the paper was flying. Her two Pokémon also noticed that bit of oddness and stopped talking, staring at the paper as it just..circled around Yang in what seemed like a simulation of wind. Okay, creepy.

Reaching out, she didn’t even have to grab it. The paper just stopped moving once it was clear she was curious enough to look at it and turned so she could read it. The image of a stadium of some kind, with some rather bold text in a box under today’s date.

{Viridian City and the Indigo League Presents: Pokémon Tournaments

Just starting your journey? Try your skills in the Little Cup. More experienced trainers sign up for the Poké Cup, and those on the Elite level should test their skills in the Prime Cup.

Join us in this week long extravaganza! Prove your skills, meet new friends, and see if you’ve got what it takes to be a champion!}

There wasn’t anything that said any particular time of day, or when the cutoff point to signing up for any of these was, that apparently was still stuck to the wall, though for curiosity’s sake she checked what was left on the wall for the address. Not that she’d decided to go there..what the hell was even going on?

<“Do you believe in destiny?”>

Yang’s whole body went rigid, standing up in a rush. She knew that voice, but could only whisper the name. “Pyrrha?”

No answer. No sign of the rather distinctive person, at least nowhere close enough that her voice, soft and oddly shaky, would be that clear to hear. It was like..like there were two of her, saying the same thing at the same time through both of Yang’s ears.

She didn’t fall for the temptation to just say her name louder. She just looked at her two Pokémon and asked, “Did you hear someone else talk just now?”

Phyllis gave an uneasy nod, shivering a little, eyes going all over the place to try to find the source of a directionless voice. Definitely not a result of the temperature..and Yang couldn’t blame her for being freaked out. The newly named Duncan was scanning the area, eyes darting back and forth, trying to find whatever had caused the directionless sound and simulated wind with no luck, legs gripping Yang’s shoulder more tightly. If that was due to the speed Yang had gone from kneeling to standing or just his own version of nervous reflex to something creepy, she couldn't’ tell.

Yang had a moment of remembering how it felt after she’d broken that Mercury guy’s leg, of looking at the world and unable to comprehend why everyone was acting like she’d done something wrong when she’d clearly ‘seen’ the guy try to hit her when the match was over only to break his leg while he was just laying on the ground, as if he hadn’t moved. That was when things had started going wrong. Gripping the point where her right arm stopped existing, she tried to help Duncan scan the area, her danger sense screaming something was very wrong.

Not that the wandering pairs of eyes knew what to look for. What passed for its skin, a material that looked more like primitive computer graphics than any organic or even solid substance, had shifted colors to match its surroundings. They might notice an odd path of ground that looked like it was displayed on an oddly shaped computer screen, but they wouldn’t think it had any connection to the odd things that had just happened.

For it was a prophet of a freshly born god, and while its main goal was to just observe the inhabitants of Viridian City, The Horned Cat was curious about the Golden Flame. Her light had dimmed since the Veil had broken, but it was still there. The question was, would the Flame rise again, or would it sputter out as it ran out of fuel?

Whatever the case, the prophet felt it had done enough to raise the Flame’s curiosity. Now it could continue observing, examine just how ready this world was. And what steps the Horned Cat would have to take to protect the world from devastation.  
________________

Author’s Note: Well that certainly felt ominous.

Felt I needed an explanation for why Giovanni isn’t at his gym for Yang to do her questions from the start. Not too sure when chronologically he would first go investigate the lab, but he’d certainly be busy trying to figure things out and piece together the puzzle while Yang is still spreading her proverbial wings.

And while I don’t plan on MewTwo, or “The Horned Cat” to be doing anything active anytime soon, it also felt like a good time to give some hints of how he’s different in this story compared to the Origins anime and the original movie. Suffice to say the pre-birth psychic exploration of Remnant before Ruby did her big chosen one explosion left an impression or three. Since I’m not too sure about the whole rating system, is MewTwo and his potential mindfuckery and brutality enough that I should consider changing the rating on this fic to mature once he does take that more active role?

And how does everyone feel about the name Duncan for a spearow? My original idea was Kester, but that didn’t feel right for a name Yang would come up with.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, we’ll see when the next one comes out. Things are going to be a bit more action packed but friendly as we start a tournament. I’m not sure yet if Yang will participate or just watch, but Katsumi/Red will certainly be eager to try showing he’s the best like no one ever was. And we’ll probably get to see some Azul/Blue/Gary Oak as well. Until then.


	9. Chapter 9

Pokémon RWBY Chapter 9  
A Nervous Chance

Yang wasn't sure why she even came to the coliseum. Not only was she not in any way, shape, or form interested in the whole competition thing, especially with the Vital Festival still way too recent for her to put behind her, the creepy, disembodied voice of Pyrrha and the floating advertisement..

..but there was a part of her that, despite her misgivings, made her go there anyway. The lack of anything else to do, the lack of any idea where else to go other than back to that store. The fact that she didn't really want to even do the whole interview thing but felt like she was committed to it just because she couldn't definitively say no. Where she used to go with the flow because that was its own brand of fun, now she did because she didn't have any drive to really do ‘anything’.

Still, even if she didn't really want to be here, just looking at the stadium from the outside was awe inspiring. The building looked ‘massive’, like it could fit two or three Vital stadiums inside it. Hell, it ‘had’ three transparent domes, probably an arena under each one. And it was ‘swarming’ with people.

There had to be at least hundreds on the outside, and none of the people seemed in any hurry to either sign up for the tournaments or buy tickets. Like they were sure they all had plenty of time to just hang around and meet new people, or just catch up with friends. For a moment Yang wondered how you were supposed to tell a trainer with a normal person..then she remembered that Professor Oak implied ‘everyone’, or at least a very vast majority of the population were trainers to one degree or another.

Well, at least that made it a lot less likely some major disaster like what happened at the festival could happen here. If even little kids could hold their own to a point ‘and’ there were no Grimm.. 

Still, just because her brain could rationalize nothing bad was likely to happen didn't mean her heart was convinced. She gave Phyllis and the freshly named Duncan each a look as she said, “Right..we’re going in. Phyllis, Duncan, stay close to me. If the crowd is this big ‘outside’ than we’re practically going to be drowning in people that mess.”

Phyllis made a noise that could have been an affirmative, but Duncan made a..not so much an immediate distress squawk but an uncomfortable one. Yang was surprised she could even associate a difference in tone like that from a bird. “Yeah, I'm not too comfortable with the idea either little guy. And that's not even getting into the fact I'm going in there because a voice in my head and a magical paper pointed to this place and I don't have any reason not to go other than that was creepy. It's that the place looks obscenely crowded and last time I was anywhere near a crowd ‘smaller’ than that all hell broke loose.”

Duncan made a few more noises and stretched his wings out before flapping them a bit. “What, you're worried about being able to fly in there?”

He nodded at that, getting off the ground to circle around her three times before giving her a questioning, if a bit imperious stare. “Yeah, you’d probably be pretty limited in there, even if the ceiling is high. Especially if I want you to stay close..hm. And forcing you to just stay on my shoulder wouldn't be right, either. Not when I don't know if anything bad ‘could’ even happen here.”

She gave it some thought before grabbing the Pokéball she’d used on him earlier and asked, “Then do you mind getting back in this thing for a while?”

A quick shake of his head. Well, if he felt it was a better idea to get turned into a flash of light and stuffed in a ball than feel constrained flying in a crowded building than who was she to argue? He had more experience being in the ball than her.

With Duncan balled, and Phyllis giving her a nudge, Yang started walking to the door. Her eyes scanned the crowd as she moved through it. Colorful, people of all shapes, sizes, skin tones, clothes that all looked unique and stylish. Coco Adel would have been in heaven, even with the occasional person who looked outrageous. Especially the kid in the blinding orange jumpsuit. Not that she had a problem with orange. Just that it looked about as painful to look at as Jaune’s onesie. And one shirtless guy was way too far on the thick side to get away with shirtless. Sure, it looked like firm muscle, not the flimsy result of overeating, but still. She didn't need to see a gut that looked like a globe.

No faunus though. Blake would have fidgeted over that, maybe check how firm her bow was and hope nobody noticed the odd twitch that didn't match the wind. No weapons of any kind, either. Ruby would have been at least a little dejected, even if everything else about all this would have made her downright pleased. From the numerous cute critters that some people wanted to show off to the souvenir kiosks to little kids just running around and having fun. She would have been downright infected by the atmosphere. Fun, energetic, no pressure, just jump in wherever you want. Hard to say how Weiss would have reacted. She loved cute things even more than Ruby, was always more smiley when there was some big event going on, but she also liked a certain amount of order. Would things here be a little too chaotic for her?

All Yang knew for sure was that as she moved by, too many conversations for her to count trailed off as nearby people noticed her. Not everyone but still a solid amount. And while some just mentioned she looked sexy and hot and other compliments, others..

“Um, are my eyes playing tricks or does she only have ‘one’ arm?”

“Yeesh, I thought I had it rough on the road. Was there an accident or did she piss off the wrong Pokemon?”

“Holy shit, what happened to her?”

..others just made her feel like a freak. What, so a purple horned rabbit thing and a bee bigger than a corgi were so normal that people barely gave them a glance but the one armed blonde? Stop the presses, most definitely the most interesting thing they've ever seen. Giving Phyllis a quick glance, it was obvious she was putting two and two together. With each jackass that just had to audibly gawk at her arm, the little girl visibly got more angry.

While it was oddly comforting to see the bulbasaur getting mad on her behalf, she didn't want Phyllis to get in trouble for lashing out at an insensitive moron. Kneeling down and laying her bag in front of the little girl, Yang whispered, “Sorry but I think we're going to need to move a bit faster. Do you mind getting on?”

Phyllis extended a vine to give Yang a comforting stroke across the cheek before climbing on. Lifting the bag, feeling vines go under her right shoulder, she got back to her feet and moved at a more brusque pace. Taking a moment to feel her cheeks and under her eyes, there were thankfully no tears. At least she hadn't broken down ‘that’ much. Still, the gesture was..nice. And her little impulse shifted the nearby conversations a bit.

“Holy shit she's strong!”

“Well back muscles are stronger than arm muscles.”

“Then how do you explain how she got a big, stuffed bag like that with a bulbasaur riding it to her shoulder? The only thing that moved was her arm, and it wasn't moving fast enough for momentum to mean anything!”

“..um, she's strong?”

“Yeah.”  
__________________

If there was one thing Katsumi didn't see coming, it was how ‘crowded’ the stadium would be. Sure, he knew these kinds of events drew in a lot of people, from the high end competitors to absolute rookies, and he knew plenty of people enjoyed coming to see the various battles and whatever other contests there were going on. Hell, even when there wasn't some massive event there was always ‘something’ going on that involved one of the three arenas in this stadium.

For a moment he couldn't help wondering why Viridian had a stadium this massive when every other city only one arena inside. Sure, this was the closest city to the Plateau, but it wasn't the most populated. Though the sheer number of people here certainly gave that impression. He couldn't even see the signs on the wall that pointed to the men's restroom. He ‘really’ didn't want to piss himself after signing up for the Little Cup. That would be quite the sight, his mother seeing him wet his pants on live television. He’d never live that down.

Still, even in a building with tens of thousands of people constantly moving around, the universe had a very annoying sense of humor. Of all the people he had to see in the middle of the crowd it had to be Azul Oak. And that smug jerk just had to see him as well. “I thought I smelled something pathetic in here.”

Don't show any weakness, try to stare him right in the eye.. “What do you want, jerk?”

His ugly, I’m-better-than-you smirk widened. “I wanted to scope out the competition before things got started. I know, not much point when I don’t know most of the people here, but now? Now I’m hyped up, because assuming you don’t get knocked out before I face you, I’m going to get to humiliate you in a way some teacher won’t save your sorry butt.”

It probably wouldn’t feel ‘humiliating’, but it still wouldn’t be pleasant to lose to Azul of all people. “It’s not like you know what Pokémon I’ve got. Or anyone else. They haven’t even decided on the brackets yet!”

And he just waved that all off like it didn’t matter to him. “Details, details. What matters is you’re here, and this just went from being a nice stepping stone on my way to glory to something ‘very’ satisfying.”

Part of Katsumi wanted to ask what he ever did to deserve Azul going out of his way to constantly put him down in absolutely everything. Schoolwork, a random game on a playground, and now going out of his way to say he was gunning for the only person he even knew on a personal level in a building with tens of thousands of people and probably hundreds of competitors. The other..the other actually ‘liked’ that Azul was throwing down the gauntlet. It gave him something to aim for other than just a trophy that plenty of other people were probably pretty eager for as well. Something more personal.

Still, he couldn’t really find the words to show he was starting to look forward to facing his fellow Pallet Towner. At best he could manage, “We’ll see about that.”

Storming off in a random direction, it took him a few seconds to remember he ‘still’ needed to use the bathroom. Well at least he saw a symbol for one..the ladies room. Yeah, he had some pretty iffy luck today.  
________________________

For the hell of it, Yang picked up a form for the “Little Cup”, taking a look at the requirements. Sure, she had no interest in actually joining in, but she couldn’t deny she was still curious.

No age requirements, you just needed less than two gym badges. So that meant you could possibly have an old man who wasn’t all that good or just someone who was actually good enough to gain those badges, however that really worked, but chose not to just for the sake of easy wins. Though there was one thing that really drew her eye. {Minimum Three Pokémon, Maximum Six}. So even if she wanted to she wouldn’t have been able to get in on this. Ha, take that “destiny”. While she didn’t outright laugh, she just placed the paper back with the stack of with a giggle. If anyone noticed that she found something funny with the sign-up sheet, they either didn’t give a damn because they were busy with their own things, or were too distracted by other things about her.

Still, she was here, and didn’t really have anything to ‘do’. Sure, she could try finding out how to get a seat in this jam packed place, maybe check if she could buy tickets or at least find a place to look at a big screen that showed whatever was going on. It’s not like it’d feel right to leave just when she got inside and managed to push herself through the crowd. Now that she was in the middle of the crowd..she just felt so alone. She couldn’t help but flash back to that first night at Beacon, when Ruby was writing a letter to her friends in Signal and just feeling apprehensive about being in a place she ‘definitely’ wanted to be in but felt out of place at.

While the circumstances were ‘very’ different for Yang right now, it was hard not to see the parallel. Here she was. In a very crowded room and far from home. Everyone around her was linking up with friends they knew from before, or meeting new people, or rushing to get where they definitely wanted to go. She was just..standing around. The closest thing to an anchor she had in the sheer tide of people was a small plant lizard thing that while very friendly she couldn’t really have a two way conversation with. It wasn’t the first time she felt overwhelmed in this new world, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

So she tried to gather herself, look around for other lone people who she could possibly try talking to. It didn’t really matter about what. The tournament, the weather, where the bathroom was, whatever. Just something that..wha..for half a second, as she was scanning the crowd, she thought she saw a ‘very’ familiar bow. Head whipping in that direction, part of her felt crushed that it was just imagined. The other couldn’t help drawing in a breath when she saw someone doing something very familiar. So familiar in fact that she couldn’t help seeing a ghost of Blake in her yukata interposed on top of..

Leaning against a wall, sitting crosslegged with a book in hand, ignoring everything in the world around her..er, no, that was actually a boy. Jet black hair, a dark blue hoodie with a yellow crescent moon that curved upwards on the hood, but what really caught her attention was an eyepatch over his right eye. The kid couldn’t have been any older than Ruby, but he was in his own little world over there. The crowd meant nothing to him, just the book in his hand. Without even thinking about it she started walking towards him, almost ‘feeling’ Ruby moving with her. Shaking her head a bit, she whispered to both herself and Phyllis, “Okay, I ‘really’ get the feeling something’s messing with my head here. No voices but I don’t think I’m actually crazy enough to start seeing ghost images of Beacon. If I was then I’d have been doing that ‘way’ before getting in here.”

Phyllis gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze and a questioning..should she call that a hiss or a meow? Either way, Yang felt like saying, “Well, even if I’m just being pulled around right now, it’s not like I’ve got anything ‘better’ to do than go along with it. Kind of annoying, and maybe creepy in its own right, but..”

She wasn’t even sure why she was saying this aloud. At the very least it was clearly making Phyllis feel a bit uneasy, and just putting words to those feelings made approaching Not-Blake while she/he was reading just like she and Ruby did back in that first night of Beacon just made it feel like a bad idea. But what else ‘could’ she do? Go back to that store and start telling the old store owner she was getting creeped out? Maybe run all the way back to Pallet and lock herself in a random room in Professor Oak’s lab complex and keep festering in her own insecurities?

Those didn’t feel right to her, even if they were undeniably safer options. Despite her losses and lack of equilibrium in pretty much any definition of the phrase, at heart she was still Yang Xiao Long. The fiery brawler of Team RWBY. Even if she was physically mangled and emotionally reeling, she wasn’t just going to run away now. Not when the images she was seeing here weren’t actually scary in themselves. Just unnerving. Now if she saw all hell breaking loose like during the Vital Festival or that masked swordsman, ‘then’ she’d lose herself and scramble to get out of there.

As if hearing her thoughts, the phantom Blake lowered her book and gave Yang a half smile. The rest of the interposed feeling of being back in Beacon disappeared, but the phantom Blake remained just long enough to say, “Thanks for giving me a chance.”

Given the way Phyllis shivered on her back, she wasn’t the only one to hear that voice. But nobody else in the building reacted. Definitely creepy. But considering how screwed up her life was now, she could tolerate that kind of creepy. It still didn’t change the fact that the night she’d first met Blake, she’d called her future partner a lost cause, so it’s not really like she “gave her a chance”. She just needed a moment to rub her eyes and mumble, “I really have to ask if this kind of weird stuff is normal around here or if it’s just me.”

It was a little awkward giving Phyllis a comforting head rub without shifting the bag, but somehow Yang managed it. And then she whispered, “Don’t worry, That was a friend’s voice. Well, a friend of mine who isn’t actually here, but I wouldn’t mind if she was, or if the other person who talked to us was here. I don’t have any idea why we’re hearing them, but better a creepy friend than something that’s actually trying to hurt us, right?”

Phyllis made another uneasy sound, and Yang chuckled. “Yeah, really weirding me out too. First it’s ‘destiny’, then we’re apparently ‘giving a chance’. So mixed messages on top of everything else. I miss the days when my life was simple. Wake up, go to class, maybe punch some jerks, and just have fun.”

Bringing her arm back to her side, ignoring the annoying little twitch that told her she’d had it at a very awkward angle when she’d pet Phyllis, Yang breathed in deep before saying more to herself than the bulbasaur. “Well, maybe I can manage to have ‘some’ fun at least. Making friends is generally fun, and if nothing else that creepy ghost thing reminded me that I’ve done this song and dance before. Let’s see if I can do this better than last time.”

So she walked up to Not-Blake, replaying her and Ruby trying to talk to Actual-Blake. Just walking up and saying “Hello” in a sing-song voice wasn’t going to be very endearing, it’d just be annoying. Especially if that was a very good book. Still, she needed to come up with ‘some’ way to get him out of that fictional world and interacting with her for at least a bit, so no matter how things went she was going to be starting an uphill struggle. She took a quick glance at the cover, trying to see if that would give her any ideas. {A Storm of Swords, Book Three of A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin}

..great, so looking before she leaped didn’t really tell her anything other than this was part of a larger series of books. And the guy who wrote it ‘definitely’ didn’t have a color themed name. That would never stop feeling strange to her. Guess she was going into this conversation mostly blind. Random compliments on appearance would just be another shallow distraction, and given her own feelings about people talking about her lack of an arm, asking about his lack of an eye was a definite no no. So she’d just have to make her opener something about a book she’d never read.

“Pleasant read?”

Where Actual-Blake might have arched an eyebrow at the interruption, clearly wondering what the point of it was, Not-Blake laughed as he pulled a bookmark out of his pocket and placed it inside, though he didn’t shut the book just yet. “Depends on your idea of pleasant. In terms of writing it is ‘excellently’ done. I was just about to close it up just to digest how I feel about what just happened, actually. It is an emotional beatdown.”

Giving a sardonically humorous huff at that, Yang gave a little smirk. ‘Emotional beatdown’, huh? “Yeah, I’ve seen and gone through plenty of beatdowns. The emotional ones are the worst. You can’t just walk it off.”

He raised his head to actually look at the person he was talking to, his eye skimmed from her missing arm to her face and all he did was give a little half smile. Yeah, this was definitely going better than her first conversation with Actual-Blake. “Nope, and you keep carrying around those scars for a long time. Well thankfully the beatdowns you get when you see characters you like getting hurt in a story isn’t as bad as actually going through a disaster, or seeing someone you care about go through one. Still, yikes. Going from a nice, pleasant wedding to a complete bloodbath.”

Oh that struck a bit close to home. A pleasant Festival celebrating relative peace in the world turned into a chaotic warzone. Hopefully he wouldn’t comment on her little wince. “I don’t suppose any of the characters you cared about managed to get out of that mess, did they?”

His eye scrunched in an exaggerated wince of his own. “Just the ones who weren’t even there for the party. The bride, the groom, the guests, the family dog..yeah, the author has some issues.”

Somehow, despite the fact that they were talking about something completely horrible, she just couldn’t keep from smiling. “Oh..oh damn. Worst wedding gift ever. ‘Welcome, I bring death, do you have any cake left’. I can’t even think of any wedding where that’d go over too well.”

He gave another laugh at that, “Well to be fair most of the people in it didn’t have a lot of time to complain.”

Why was it that talking about something that sounded like a major tragedy was so amusing? Especially when she was still a little raw from her own tragedy? Was it the idea that it wasn’t just ‘her’ that got dealt a bad hand? Or just the fact that it was fictional so there was more of a sense of disconnect when she already felt pretty disconnected from the world around her? “Sounds like a book I’m probably not going to get into myself.”

Closing the book and putting it in the pocket of his hoodie, he shrugged. “And I don’t blame you. I’m just a little too hooked on it to back out now, though.”

Standing up, he wasn’t all that tall compared to her. He could have easily just stared right at her boobs if he didn’t bother raising his head. Extending his left hand, he introduced himself. “The name’s Masamune Date. And you are?”

She extended her own. That went a lot better than last time she’d interrupted a bookworm. “Yang Xiao Long.”  
________________

Author’s Note: And so the Golden Dragon of Patch has met the One Eyed Dragon of Oushuu. Not that Pokémon seems to have an Oushuu province in their version of Japan that I’ve seen.

This is another of the Sengoku inspired characters. I felt that something similar to the Sengoku Basara interpretation of the guy, Quiet and good natured off the battlefield for the most part and over-the-top brash when on the battlefield will be an interesting one to work with. Still not sure what his role’s going to be like as a whole yet but I’d like to be able to pull off Masamune, Katsumi, and Yang joining as a party to go from one town to the next. While the old seasons of the anime had their issues, I still liked the Brock/Misty/Ash dynamic and want to see if a Yang/Masamune/Katsumi thing will bounce or just crash flat.

Anyway, that felt like a good point to end this chapter. Yang meets a potential friend, and has some more questions to ask on top of whatever the actual events of the tournament are going to be. Going to put the whole psychic watcher thing on hold, don’t want that plot idea to tire itself out. 

Next time, I’m going to have to come up with a way for Yang to start watching the tournament with the old store owner/Shingen, having various things explained to her as each round goes on. It wouldn’t feel right for me to just have our creepy psychic prophet leading her to ‘that’, then Yang would feel less like a person who makes her own decisions as she makes an impact on the world around her, and more like a dog that’s being pulled by a leash to whatever the plot requires of her. While I had a moment of thinking she could either head back to the store and watch on a TV with him or he just stumbles onto her and they walk into the stands..neither really feels right. I’m also not sure if she should focus on watching just the rookie trainers battle it out or get to witness some higher ranked matches in the other tournaments as well.

Anyway, until next time. Hope this was a fun chapter to read.


	10. Chapter 10

Pokémon RWBY Chapter 10

She’d certainly hit it off with this Masamune guy. And she hadn't made herself feel like an uninformed idiot while doing so. Though part of that involved her not mentioning certain things, like being used to fighting monsters, not working with them. And she had no idea how that was really supposed to work even if she was willing to be friendly with the things. Part of her wondered if it was even right to call living creatures she could interact with in such detail, even if they couldn't really talk back, as ‘things’.

“Sorry, I’m in more of a spectator mood than getting into the thick of it. It's already pretty thick in ‘here’.”

In a way it felt a little dishonest, but at the same time she couldn't help feeling amused by the irony. The kid reminded her of Blake yet Yang was the one who wanted to keep some secrets. All because she didn't want to deal with being considered different. Granted, she wasn't trying to avoid dealing with bigots and at worst she might feel humiliation, but she wanted to think this was about what Blake felt before she wound up revealing she was a faunus.

Still, even if she was holding back part of the truth they were having a good back and forth. “Oh I know the feeling. Sure, it can be fun going in front of a crowd and trying to get them to cheer you on, but some days being around people can feel downright ‘crushing’, and it's generally a bad thing when you're feeling crushed just as the buzzer rings.”

It's a little worse when you get arrested just after a match. Though she’d still swear the guy attacked her after the match and got what he asked for. Not that she should reopen that can of worms to someone who hadn’t even seen her go through that crap. “Yeah, when your head’s not in the game or your heart's not feeling it you’re just going to get sloppy. And if I think I'm just going to be sloppy then why embarrass myself if I can avoid it?”

His smile shifted into more of a smirk. “Then it's a good thing I'm feeling it. Doesn't matter if I make it to the championship or not, this is going to be fun. Me and my team are here to make an impact.”

Oh, Masamune had a cocky streak. He ‘definitely’ would have fit in the Vital Festival, and unlike that Neptune guy it felt like more than just an act. She gave a matching smirk. “And I'm already looking forward to seeing what you've got.”

Before their conversation could shift to another direction, one of Phyllis’ vines let go of Yang’s shoulder and gave her a light poke to the cheek. Huh, somehow managed to forget the little girl was still riding her bag. That same vine gestured back towards the entrance and when she turned her head to look, she had to blink.

The crowd was practically bubbling near the doors, with everyone but the people with the closest view pushing to get a look, and the ones with the best view standing stock still. And somehow, without a word being said or any physical force, they parted, revealing the man that had captured everyone's attention just by entering the building.

The first thing Yang noticed about him was that he was wearing armor. Finely polished armor, not quite reflective but that was more the fault of the material it was made of than a lack of diligence. A very dark, almost blue, almost purple. She couldn’t really tell even with the lighting in there. Just that it wasn’t actually black despite how dark it looked. She also didn't know what that specific kind of chest protector was called, but the horizontal strips of ceramic looked more than just decorative. They looked designed to prevent any kind of slash related damage and would probably make it tougher for any piercing weapons to reach the flesh underneath. His footfalls, while heavy due to the armor he was wearing, were steady and sure. He was used to wearing all that, from the grieves to the gauntlets. Though he didn't have a helmet to complete the ensemble, he had a simple but long white cloth, wrapping from the left side of his body to the top of his head, looking like a cowl, though she’d never seen one worn in that particular way. It didn't cover his face, just his scalp and ears.

The next thing she saw was the expression on his face. Narrowed eyes, like he was already concentrating and didn't want to bother paying attention to anything other than his goal. A stern frown, less an indication he wasn't pleased about anything in particular and more like he’d forgotten how to smile a long time ago. Age had left ‘some’ wrinkles on the edges of what was visible, but it was hard to call him an old man. Just like it was tough to call Glynda Goodwitch an old woman. There was more than plenty of fire behind those eyes, plenty of things he wanted to do in his life before he started slowing down.

He walked through without interruption, the din of the stuffed building nonexistent in either respect or fear, possibly both. At most one kid looked ready to try getting his autograph or something, took one look at that all too intense visage, and froze up. Wow. Probably someone ‘very’ famous. So as much as Yang may have wanted to ask who that was, it just felt like a bad idea right then and there. Then she’d come across as dense as Jaune or something. 

The moment he was out of the entrance hall, it was like everyone remembered what they were doing and got back to it. Holy shit, not even Pyrrha would have had that kind of affect on people and she was about as famous as they got on Remnant. She was more intimidated by the effect he had on the people around her than his actual appearance. He looked like just any hunter with a unique sense of style, and radiated an intensity she’d come to expect from veterans who were all-business. Scarred but undeterred.

Masamune seemed to take a little longer to recover than the average person, but before he could say anything, a voice made him, Yang, and Phyllis jolt in surprise. “Am I correct in assuming you are Ms Xiao Long?”

Yang spun around so fast that Phyllis nearly went flying from the momentum, gripping her shoulder hard with a cry as she unconsciously got into a fighting stance. Or at least what counted as a fighting stance for her now, a lone arm raised near her cheek and knees slightly bent.

While the guy she turned to face was uncomfortably close, nothing about him looked in any way dangerous. Scrawny, unarmed, hands in his pockets, relaxed smile on his face, really the only reason Yang’s danger senses were going off was because he’d seemingly came out of nowhere. “Ah, apologies for surprising you. It looked like you were done speaking to Mr Date there and I wanted to inform you that Professor Oak arranged for you to be in the VIP lounge.”

He’d arranged for..the hell? She didn't even know she was going to ‘be’ here an hour ago. How did he know she’d come here? Was he responsible for the floating paper, the voices in her head?

Almost before she was done thinking it she shook the idea off. No way. The guy was painfully transparent. His version of subtle just veered into awkward, not creepy. Even if he somehow could pull crap like that, it wouldn't feel like his style. Not that some guy out of nowhere knowing her and the person she was talking to by name wasn't its own brand of creepy.

The tight grip Phyllis had on her shoulder seemed to make it all the more obvious that the little girl was even ‘more’ on edge than Yang, which somehow convinced her to physically relax if not mentally. Reaching with her arm to give a soothing rub to the bulbasaur’s forehead, the blond gave the guy another appraising glance. Still nothing remarkable about him, at best he was wearing a uniform that she'd seen on some other people wandering around the building. So at the very least he seemed legitimate.

Hoping her voice was firm, she figured she’d stall for a bit just to see how the guy reacted. “Right..think I'll hit the bathroom first, though.”

He was clearly in no hurry for her to go to the lounge, so that was reassuring. “The woman’s room is that way, between the snack bar and the help desk.”

Nodding, she took her time heading that way. He didn't follow her even partway there, just faded back into the crowd and went off to do other things. Trying to shake off any paranoia, Yang couldn't help chuckling to herself. Not too long ago she would have ignored anything off about any situation unless Ruby..or really any of her teammates were involved. Hell, she felt like her attitude these days was little better than when Blake decided sleep was for the lazy. At least Blake had the excuse that there were people who undeniably wanted to hurt herself and others were definitely out there. Whereas Yang was deep in the unknown and feeling as jumpy as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Huh, she didn't remember if she’d ever said that one to Blake. Would that have made her exasperated, angry, or actually get her giggling?

Her train of thought derailed when she saw Katsumi exiting the lady’s room. His expression shifted to deer-in-headlights horror. And then she found herself giving him a teasing grin. “Wow. Pretty bold there, kid.”

The way he just sputtered was ‘perfect’. Hurried but easier to keep up with than Dr Oobleck. She could easily imagine Ruby with her hand in the cookie jar and coming up with some flimsy excuses. “Na..no! I know what it looks like, but..I just couldn't find the men's room, and I ‘really’ had to go, like seconds away from crapping myself, so it's, like, do I risk getting accused of pervert stuff or stinking the place up before the first match even starts, and why are you grinning like that? Please don't hurt me!”

That just made her laugh. Not a full blown, bending over and running out of breath laugh but still pleasant. “Hey, it's fine. You're young enough to get away with that, just don't make it a habit, kid.”

The look on his face was still a little nervous but, credit where it's due, he managed to crack a joke. “You sure? That looked a lot cleaner than the usual boys rooms.”

That got her laughing again.  
_______________

It felt more than a little awkward for Shingen to be sitting in the VIP lounge. It was one thing to watch the occasional old friend or promising youngster on television, it was another to actually be in a stadium again. He’d effectively retired three years ago, and while he still looked at his time in the game fondly, he had no regrets.

Still, his last conversation with Samuel was rather convincing. And it didn't hurt that Yang had made a good impression on him. She was a caring, nurturing individual who had a strong sense of responsibility that was stronger than her damaged self-esteem. So being here to effectively comment on various matches, answering whatever questions she had would be a pleasure. Even if the environment he was doing it in stung a bit.

At least he’d managed to get here without the crowd noticing. Last thing he needed was some fans of his wondering if he’d step out of retirement for at least a few matches. It's downright amazing what a trench coat, shades, and bowler hat could do to help the famous blend into a crowd, though he had to take them off once he got in the lounge. Downright stifling.

And even more amazing how downright popular Kenshin was. He was damned good, but he wasn't the type to try pleasing the crowd. Hell, he preferred to end his fights as quickly as possible, with plenty of one hit wonders. Aggressive, unrelenting, and anyone who wasn't good enough would be finished so fast you wouldn't be able to eat a second handful of popcorn. Just what made people enjoy watching mostly squash matches, anyway? Did they like to imagine themselves as Kenshin, a near unstoppable force? Or did they like to imagine getting to a level where they could enter the very exclusive club of worthy opponent?

His musings were cut off when the door opened, and the young lady paused, drinking in the sight of the VIP lounge. She didn't really look amazed by the room, more like amused. Nice that she wasn't easily impressed by an expensive set-up.  
______________

The first thing Yang noticed when she walked in was the red rug. It was a darker red than Ruby’s cloak, more like a sensual wine than a cherry. The sort of red she imagined were bedsheets in Blake’s more raunchy books. The surface looked like it was trying to seem similar to sand, but it didn't shift around like sand. It just felt like any other rug she’d walked on that didn't have enough slack to bunch up.

The wall with the door behind her and about half of the walls to the left and right were a shiny marble white. She grazed her fingers across the surface, expecting to feel smoothed out stone and it was too cold to be that. Too easy for her fingers to slide across the surface. Metal. And it was painted to look like rock. The dim lighting on top of that made it feel almost like she’d walked into a cave.

The other half of the two walls and the surface directly in front of them was glass. Tinted, probably not the kind of glass that the people on the other side could see through, and holy crap they had a view of three different arenas at once, all of which were open for business and filling up with thousands of people. In a way that view clashed with the false cave aesthetic, but the very expensive looking screens about twelve feet up at each section of window made more sense than if they were attached to the metal false-marble.

But the crown jewel were the chairs. Five of them with little control sticks so you could move them along the rails if you wanted to shift your attention from one arena to the others. Four of them looked pretty fancy, all leather and cushioned and able to lean back. But the center one, the fifth, looked like a freaking throne. Larger, more imposing, with a trio of birds carved to stare menacingly at whatever the guy in the seat was facing, an especially spikey, golden bird in the center and flanked by its smoother looking crimson and azure brothers.

The only other person in the room was the old store owner from before, sitting on one of the lesser chairs with a comforting smile directed at her. She smiled back and just ‘had’ to ask, “Do I need to worry about the guy who belongs on ‘that’ loveseat popping up? Because yeah, anyone who sits in chairs like that is a little tough not to mock. Sure, I've seen worse, but..”

That got him chuckling. “Oh no, he's apparently off on business. The man has a number of business ventures on top of him being a gym leader. So despite paying quite a lot of money of the single largest stadium on the planet, he doesn't really have the free time to actually watch these kinds of events live. At least not without several distractions getting in the way.”

That was awkward. Didn't the professor say that gym leaders were unappreciated? What kind of “unappreciated” guy made a chair like that? Compensating for something, dreams of being a king, a flair for the dramatic? At least she had an opening question for him when she had to give him an interview, what was with that chair? And why did he make the VIP room look at least partly like a cave? So two questions then.

Putting thoughts of talking to a very rich guy with odd ideas of interior design aside, she set down her bag and thumbed Duncan’s ball. “Well, if he's not here to object than there's probably no harm in letting this little guy stretch his wings.”

As Phyllis got off the bag and felt the material the ground was made of, Duncan returned to the world in a flash of light, taking a look around the room until his eyes locked onto the fake birds on the chair. While it wasn't a hostile stare, it was still kind of funny. Too bad she couldn't read that expression. “Well there's not a massive amount of room in here for you to fly, but at least it's better than the insane crowds from earlier. Less likely to have to worry about something weird or crazy happening in here.”

He turned to face her a moment, unmoving before giving a little squawk. She couldn't really tell if the emotion behind the noise was insulted or if the little guy thought this was a bad joke, all she could really say was it wasn't a pleased noise. “I get it, you don't want to feel constrained. Still, I can't help thinking it'd be better for you to watch all this with the rest of us than get a description or two of it later.”

He very definitely scoffed at that, which in turn made her roll her eyes. It was like trying to convince Weiss to take a break from studying. Only with Weiss it was more a matter of convincing her to relax at all. Here, it was just that Yang felt life in a ball, no matter how comfortable or whatever it was, had to be less pleasant than being out and ‘living’.

Something about the exchange seemed to amuse the old man a lot. “I suppose this is the one you mentioned was hurt earlier? Well whatever happened to him certainly didn't hurt his pride. Still, even if that's the case I think this old friend of mine can help him feel more at ease.”

Pulling out a pokéball of his own, he opened it up and holy crap. The bird that formed from the flash of light made Duncan look like a baby in comparison. While not as massive as a nevermore, its wingspan was several times longer than the spearow’s. For a moment Yang wondered if this was what Duncan would grow to become. Strong, sleek, a small rainbow of feathers on its head like a crown. Then she noticed the gut and couldn't help gawking. No way. Those annoying birds that kept trying to rob her on the road, those pidgey things, grew up into something that looked more hawk-like than Duncan?! How did ‘that’ make sense?!

The big bird didn't seem to give a damn that the room was much more constraining to him than the little spearow. He just stretched his wings out with a yawn, gave the old man a glance and nodded upon seeing a quick series of hand gestures. Then he walked to Duncan, lowered his head to stare eye to eye with the other bird and began a squawking conversation. Was squawking even the right word if they were talking? It’s not like she knew too many other words to describe birds making noises at one another aside from tweet and caw.

Staring for a while at the conversation, noting that Duncan seemed respectful but uncowed and proud in his own right, Yang couldn't help mumbling, “Really wish I could actually understand what they're saying.”

The old man gave a chuckle. “Oh don't worry. You seem empathetic enough to make due with a bit of a language barrier. Eventually they'll become easier to have a back and forth with when you become more experienced with them.”

Then he decided to reach from his seat to the throne, grabbing a remote control from the fancy arm rest. “So, which do you think we should focus on? Little cup, Poké cup, or Prime cup?”

She didn't even need to think about it, the only two people she’d met under the age of fifty were probably among the rookies. Still, she made an exaggerated show of thinking about it. “Hm, probably the Little cup. Not that I think the other two would be boring or something, just that it’s easier to catch the mistakes a rookie makes and talk about it rather than someone who's been at this longer than I've been alive.”

He gave a nod of understanding at that as she took the non-throne seat next to him. “True, and I personally find there’s a certain energy to people who are just starting out. Wild, untapped potential that just glows with enthusiasm. Whereas all too many at the Prime level are so set in their ways it's like they're all too predictable after a while. This should be fun.”  
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“Welcome everyone to Viridian City, where we’ve got quite the show for you this week! I'm Billy the Brute Botatski sitting alongside Chester McTalley and we are eagerly awaiting the start of the Little Cup!”

“The tournament brackets have just been decided and there are no new entries being accepted at this time. Over five hundred eager young trainers want in on the prize and prestige, but only one can get the gold!”

“Well technically there's a prize for second place -”

“And in some ways that would be ‘more’ insulting than not getting anything at all! A constant reminder that you came close but couldn't pull off the biggest win!”

“Well for a lot of these young people this is their first competition so getting either would be quite the feather in the proverbial cap. With that said the first round of the first bracket is about to begin! Coming in from the white gate is Azul Oak, grandson of the esteemed Professor Samuel Oak! He's registered a squirtle, rattata, and a pidgey for his team!”

“From the red gate we have Stan Johnson! He's got a sandshrew, voltorb, and marill. Looks like he got a lucky first draw since two of Azul’s three are weak to electric!”

“Type advantage isn’t everything but it’s certainly an edge! We’ll see how far from the tree Azul’s apple landed as he tries to overcome that edge!”

“Great, his first time and you already want to bury him in cliches.”  
_________________

The screen showed the trainer’s name, pictures of the creatures they were registered with, and symbols that, if Yang was reading them right, were the “types” each creature landed in, and some of them seemed pretty self-explanatory. The squirtle was, of course, water, with a stylized white droplet with a dark blue background. The oversized white and red ball, how was ‘that’ a living creature, had a white lightning bolt with a yellow background next to it, probably electric. And of course its species name was “voltorb”. Volt, orb, electric ball, whoever named that species as a whole wasn’t feeling all that clever. The bird, pidgey, had a white feather with a bright blue background.

Yeesh, they loved using the color white as the actual image, didn’t they? Not that there was anything ‘wrong’ with white, just that for some reason she couldn’t help thinking the lightning emblem should have had a black background with a yellow bolt to better imply lightning piercing the darkness. And maybe turn that white feather red..

Other symbols, however, were less obvious. The rattata had a white star in a grey background..seemed a bit grandiose for an oversized purple rat, but maybe the star thing fit better with other creatures of that type..wait, didn’t the dex claim that those things were “normal” type? When she thought “normal”, it typically meant not very special, so why the star for its symbol?

The one next to the mouse-shaped creature with a section of skin that almost made her think of a cobblestone road, had a brown background and a small pyramid of white dots. Apparently it was called a “sandshrew”. Huh. She’d seen a decent number of shrews back on Patch, and arguably roomed with one back at Beacon..too bad Weiss wasn’t here to take offense at that. And those things had a ‘much’ more pronounced snout, definitely didn’t have such larger eyes, not to mention a mouth with teeth that had a venom that made poor Zwei ‘really’ go out of his way to avoid the things whenever they were around. She very much doubted the pyramid thing meant it was a poison type, though, so..what?

And then there was the cute little blue ball creature with mouse ears, a weird tail that went from a thin little line to a small blue ball that part of her ‘wanted’ to think was fluffy but it didn’t really look furry. Hell, The whole creature looked more like it was made or rubber than anything else. It had the water type symbol, and what looked like a white star above a pair of white wings with a pink background. It’s not like the name “marill” told her what that second symbol was supposed to mean.

The old man nodded at the lineup for both trainers, approving. “Reasonably varied teams for both of them, and while Stan seems to have one pokemon to answer for two of Azul’s, it’s not overly lopsided. Tell me, which one do you think will come out on top of the opening match?”

Great, asking the girl who didn’t have a clue how pokemon battles worked how this fight was going to go. That was about as bad as asking Blake what being in a rock concert was like. At best she’d just be able to guess that it’d be damn loud. Hm..only one thing really came to mind, the image of a boarbadusk getting ready to attack and the fact that one team had nothing but rounder creatures. “Yeesh, tough to say..Stan’s team looks pretty round, so all three could just ball up and try spinning their way to a win or something. Not really seeing a common theme with Azul’s though. Harder for me to guess what he’s going to do with what he’s got.”

The old man, and at some point she’d ‘really’ have to figure out what his name was if she was going to be interacting with him outside of his store like this, made a “hmHM” sound, like a teacher who was impressed by a student’s reasoning. Too bad she couldn’t tell if it was a good impressed or just amused. “Interesting observation.”

The klaxon for the match to start blared before he could say anything more, and Yang found her eyes completely glued to the action.  
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Author’s Note: Right, couldn’t do much work on the Modern Warfare LP fic while on vacation, kind of need my desktop for that. Still, I managed to chip away at this chapter and did some random stuff for a potential other fic that I got a random itch for. Not really enough material to post for that, though a good number of ideas I’m thinking of expanding.

One of the things I did during my little vacation was randomly watch some old wrestling events, which helped me start getting a better idea of how to pull off the action and the overall feel of the tournament. Don’t’ worry, we’re not going to be seeing absolutely every damn match. And Yang’s not going to be sitting just watching and reacting to matches until the tournament’s done. I just figured that watching a long tournament and series of matches would give her some ideas how to actually go about making her growing team into something other than a pair of little critters that happen to fight by her side of their own volition. That’s certainly going to make her respect Ruby’s ability to get RWBY to work together the way she did even more since Yang is essentially going to be team leader for her crew in this world.

Next chapter, we get some action sequences. As tempted as I was to shove it into this chapter, it felt like I’d put enough words for one chapter for now.


	11. Witnessing Battle

Chapter 11  
Witnessing Battle

The instant the timer on the screen hit zero and the starting klaxon rang, Azul had pulled out a ball and unleashed his rattata. Slower on the draw, almost struggling with his own belt, Stan got his voltorb out. Yang felt herself twitch. Just from the way the two moved to do the same thing it was clear who was the bigger threat.

“Why do I already feel sorry for Stan?”

The rat charged at his foe, a cocky smirk on his snout to match the smug grin on Azul’s face. Even as Stan yelled an order and the voltorb’s eyes glowed a brilliant gold their expressions didn't change. As if they knew the fight was already decided. It didn't help that the rat had started moving without Azul needing to say anything, their opening moves well practiced to the point of instinct while the voltorb didn't do anything without being told.

A thin flash of light, a crack that burst through the din of the crowd, and the rat grimaced in pain. While the aura bar for the little guy dipped to the halfway point he didn't slow down, just powering through the lightning bolt as his buck teeth began to glow and he closed the distance. She’d have thought getting hit with enough electricity to light your whole body up would leave you smoldering, and certainly make your muscles seize up for at least a few seconds. Then again maybe lightning shot from a living creature had different rules.

Once the rat got close enough he leaped, glowing teeth ready to do some damage. It was less of a bite and more of a scraping cut, slashing right between the ball’s eyes up to the top of its..could she really call it a scalp if the entire creature was a hairless ball? And holy crap she was ‘not’ expecting an uppercut that involved teeth!

Stan stared in horror as the rat’s strike left more damage on his Pokemon's aura bar than the lightning strike, stuttering as Azul calmly ordered the finishing blow. While the ball started to get moving and gained speed quickly it was still trying to get going from a dead stop. The rat was already sprinting and managed a downright amazingly sudden three-sixty turn that somehow let him keep his momentum, doing another tooth-uppercut from behind. Yeesh, if the rats on the road did crap like that..

Another buzz, and the picture of the voltorb was crossed out. Yang gave an impressed whistle. “Yeesh, was ‘not’ expecting anything like that. Guess I should take the rats on the road more seriously.”

The old man gave an amused hum before responding, “Indeed, sometimes it's easy to assume pokémon of a certain species will always move and act the same as in the wild. But skilled trainers can make even the most unremarkable of pokémon into a force to be reckoned with.”

As poor Stan scrambled and looked downright horrified as he retrieved his apparently unconscious voltorb and fumbled for another ball, Azul picked up his rattata and did a quick victory pose, one hand raised as a fist and the other holding his pokémon near his waist. The rat stood awkwardly on its hind legs, front legs clinging to his trainer as the little guy seemed to try impersonating a lion’s proud roar. Not that anyone other than Azul would have been able to hear that over the cheering crowd.

That got Yang chuckling. “That was a nice start but it's a little early to start celebrating. Still two more to go.”

Nodding at the solid point, her companion replied, “True but that voltorb’s electricity was Stan’s biggest edge against Azul’s pidgey and squirtle. As you said before the first strike it's hard not to feel sorry for Stan.”

As his opponent finally got the ball he was looking for off his belt holster, Azul smoothly, as if this entire thing was rehearsed ahead of time, stored his rat and released his pidgey. As if to highlight the sheer mismatch, the pidgey had a solid three seconds of waiting before the marril formed, Azul’s casual quickdraw so much faster than Stan’s scramble it was..well, highlighting how screwed Stan was.

It was hard not to wonder how Ruby would have measured up in this kind of contest. She was clever, more cunning than most would give her credit for. Hell, Yang couldn't hope to pull off half the kind of job her little sister had in getting team RWBY to work together the way they did in the span of two semesters. If anything Yang probably would have spent more time arguing with Weiss than actually getting anyone to work as anything more than a bunch of skilled individuals. And that sent a pang through her chest that Ruby wasn't sitting next to her, cheering and generally being excited. Which in turn made her think of Weiss trying to be more mature yet somehow becoming about as giddy without even noticing it. Or Blake acting pretty reserved until the sheer energy around her proved too much for her to contain. Maybe throw in uncle Qrow being a snarky jackass and her dad being a lovable goofball..

So she just focused on the person who ‘was’ actually here with her, trying to block out the thoughts of more familiar faces. “That's more because Azul down there looks completely confident. Physically on point, giving the sense he’s in control, just giving broad orders that are smoothly followed by the little guy who adds his own little flare to it, that sort of thing. He knows what he's doing, and definitely trusts his partner to hold his own. Whereas Stan..he’s a mess. Poor guy's practically tripping over himself, more reactive than proactive, and his little guys don't look like they have a lot of their own initiative. Still, he's not the one in the fight, just the guy yelling to the fighters.”

The pidgey began a series of hit and runs, using his superior speed and maneuverability to claw at and occasionally outright tackle the ground bound mouse-esque ball of cuteness. A raging rag doll that could somehow spit more water out of his mouth than he had room in his body to hold, creepy, but a pretty hopeless rag doll all the same. Stan clearly had no idea how to handle this and just stopped trying to yell instructions, practically becoming just another member of the audience. Wasn't there a way for him to concede or something if he felt he was absolutely hopeless? Or pull the little guy out and switch to his third creature?

There was a moment after a particularly harsh tackle, with the marill bouncing off the ground like a rubber ball and the bird turning around for another pass, when the beaten down critter stared at the nearly crying trainer. Despite the long distance from the VIP lounge to the arena floor, and the awkward camera angle on the screens, Yang could still ‘feel’ the emotions exchanged between the two. Stan’s sorrow and resignation, the marill’s sense of helplessness and shame, and how when their eyes met the marill had a fresh flash of determination. It was the sort of thing she saw plenty of times at Signal Academy whenever someone getting their ass kicked would stop listening to their coach and started going wild.

Yang felt herself smiling at that. “All right little guy, what are you going to do about it?”

The old man gave her a quick glance but then his eyes were drawn back to the action. As the bird came swooping down for his next strike, the blue mouse didn't bother getting back on his feet or try spraying more water. He just bounced to smash into the bird, catching his assailant off guard. Both of their auras went down so it wasn't perfect, especially with how low the marill’s already was, but it knocked the pidgey out of its rhythm, and made Azul freeze up in surprise.

The crowd went crazy as the mouse scrambled onto the still stunned bird’s back, scratching and biting frantically. But where most people saw a valiant comeback and fed off the energy, Yang saw pure desperation and lack of technique. “Oh that's not going to last long enough to beat that pidgey. It's not even good enough to stop a determined enough toddler.”

It's hard to keep a firm grip when clawing and biting for the sake of causing any damage at all. Eventually the pidgey managed to buck off the marill and took to the air again. Azul had an angry look on his face, either at the marill for giving the illusion of the one sided beatdown being an actual fight or his own pidgey for letting that go on as long as it did. Yang could only see his body language, she couldn't hear whatever he was actually saying. She didn't know if the bird picking the mouse up by the thin section of tail between the round bits was something ordered or just the pidgey thinking of payback on his own. Either way it felt a little too vindictive, practically asking for his opponent to counter. Too bad that Stan and his marill didn't understand that.

What she ‘could’ hear was the old man sounding impressed. “You’ve got a good eye on you. I can't think of too many trainers who could have seen that coming.”

Part of her wanted to say that was because she was a huntress, not a trainer. But the words caught in her throat partway through. “That's..well, I've..gone through plenty of trouble. Easier to put myself in the shoes of someone in the thick of it rather than the person yelling instructions on the sidelines.”

Her mouth kept moving as a thought occurred to her, whatever nervousness changed her words earlier gone as she kept talking. “Like right now. Getting lifted into the air, sure, that's a bad spot. But the pidgey’s speed and maneuverability mean a lot less now, ‘especially’ when the weight the little guy's struggling to lift is the very opponent he’s trying to fight. If you're going to grab at what you're fighting, you need a quick follow up or you’re just asking for trouble. Just like he and Azul ran into trouble by getting too complacent beating the marill down. Not that the marill is thinking straight enough to try shooting more water or really anything else to take advantage of the long set up for the next move. He's just flailing around. Sure, making it tougher for the bird to keep a grip but no plan other than get out of those talons. I doubt the little guy even has an idea how to land if he ‘does’ get loose. He ‘did’ have the right idea earlier to try interrupting the constant swooping attacks, but didn't have anything to follow it up. Like a little kid tripping a bully just hoping that's enough to get the bully to back off.”

He took in the information with a smile, nodding even as the pidgey stopped climbing upwards and just let the mouse drop. “Hm, yes. I'm more used to trying to get a read on the trainer, think what they can do with the pokémon they brought and circumstances they are given. Strategies and tactics, one thing leads to the next which opens up possible next moves, plans meeting opposing plans, the battle of the brains. You seem to have more of an eye for the immediate flow of battle, how reflexes and instincts can quickly change the complexion of a situation, the potential individual strikes and openings that a given clash creates, the emotions of those involved. It's quite a nice change of pace to react to a match with someone who looks from a different angle.”

The landing looked painful, the marill bouncing like, well, a ball. A ball that was more water than air, squishing against itself in the painful impact. His aura was in the red but not low enough to warrant being out of the fight apparently. He was too dazed as the pidgey came down hard and fast, seeing but not comprehending as the bird slammed his beak between the eyes as if his entire body was a fist. A brutal knockout but the crowd was still cheering.

Yeesh, for a world where they didn't have to worry about anything like the Grimm they certainly made their sport fighting vicious. Granted, there were plenty of harsh blows thrown during the Vital Festival tournament, neither were to the death and for the most part nobody got ‘really’ hurt. That Mercury guy..yeah, she ‘still’ thought he attacked her after the match was over. Maybe it was just that load of crap that made seeing cute looking animals fighting ‘that’ hard catch her off guard. That sense that regardless of the rules there was still a chance of injury, and they didn't have the excuse of a dangerous threat to..

..okay, she was honestly about to think there was an excuse to go too far in a tournament fight while still thinking she was justified in countering an attack from behind by a beaten opponent the way she had. No wonder Blake hesitated to say she believed Yang. That was..yeah, not a good line of thought.

So she went back to focusing on what was going on down in the arena. Stan was once again putting a defeated pokémon back in its ball, though this time he wasn't scrambling to get the next ball out. He just looked at it dejectedly. Like he was thinking of just giving up right there. Understandable. Two of his team eliminated. All three of the opposition ready for him with only one with a significant amount of aura missing, and one was still completely fresh. And judging by how the previous two fought, this probably would be even more one sided. His morale was painfully low.

Conversely, Azul was back to looking smug and proud. One hand raised in victory, and his pidgey perched on his shoulder, doing the closest thing a bird of his size could manage to copy a lion’s roar. The match as a whole already decided, even if it wasn't officially over yet. It was hard to call it complacency when his opponent looked so emotionally beaten and the one spurt of surprise hadn't managed to even take his bird’s aura to the halfway point.

Eventually Stan made his decision, slowly pulling out the ball and unleashing the sandshrew inside. Again, Azul smoothly took his current pokémon off the field and got out a fresh one. His squirtle somehow managed to look more menacing than such a small, cute little thing had a right to. Was it the way he was grinning or just the sense of hopelessness from Stan?

Yang wasn't sure what to feel at this point, it might have been better for Stan to just call it a day. “Oh he outright knows he's beat now. If he isn’t crying already he’s certainly close to. Still, it takes a certain kind of guts to keep going when you're down two to nothing and can see the end ahead, though that’s kind of canceled out by the fact that he’s just seeing the pain on someone else, not feeling it himself.”

The old man was also less than sympathetic to Stan pulling out his third against these odds. “Indeed, Stan doesn't have much he can do about that type disadvantage. And even if by some miracle he ‘could’ pull something off there’s no way his sandshrew would be in any condition to contend with two more pokémon afterwards, even if neither of them are fresh. No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t make much sense for him ‘not’ to concede. Not even stubborn pride, that seems to have been beaten out of him. Maybe he considers it more shameful to admit defeat than keep struggling.”

Azul and his squirtle were in no hurry to finish the match, the blue turtle cockily doing a slow spin as he walked towards his opponent, making gestures to the crowd as if he was the star of the whole show. Conversely, Stan was kneeling with his sandshrew, saying ‘something’ as he shook with poorly restrained emotion while the little guy made a comforting few pats on his arm. That just made Stan ‘visibly’ sob. Yeesh, it was the first match of the first round of a random tournament for beginners. Sure, it sucks to lose but this..this was just downright pathetic. If anything he was making his rather public humiliation even worse.

As Stan almost tripped over himself backing away from his pokémon, the sandshrew did something oddly, comfortingly familiar to Yang. Like a boarbadusk, it condensed itself into a ball and started spinning in place, charging up for one last charge. Groaning a little, Yang couldn’t stop herself from trying to facepalm with her nonexistent arm. “Ugh, really? Took you that long to think ‘I have a lot of round creatures, maybe I should make the other guy play ball’? Stan, that is just ‘sad’.”

It took just a quarter second of “feeling” her arm make the motion and ‘not’ feeling it actually touch her head for her to realize her mistake and use her left hand to crack against her forehead with more force than she’d usually put into a facepalm. The old man jolted a bit from the sound of the impact, which to Yang’s own ears sounded like a two-by-four smacking against cement with just barely enough force to avoid breaking. She winced more at his reaction than the self-inflicted pain.

The squirtle waited until the sandshrew started rolling right at him at an impressive speed before spraying his opponent down with an absurd amount of water from his mouth. It didn’t look any different from the water any hose could launch, there didn’t seem to be any especially impressive amount of kinetic force behind the spray, so it just felt odd to see the sandshrew’s aura zip down so fast. What, was there something special about another pokémon soaking them down? Did water just work differently around here? And more importantly how the hell could a cute little thing like a squirtle shoot more water than his own bodyweight and not look the least bit dehydrated?!

To add insult to inexplicable injury, once the sandshrew’s aura ran out and the klaxon rang out for the end of the match the squirtle started a victory break-dance. Sure, it was cute to see the little guy dance like that but after a one sided win like that it felt ‘way’ too mean spirited. The only way it could have felt worse was if the little guy gave a kick to the now laid out sandshrew. A quick fist pump and triumphant cry was one thing but this..this just made her hope that Azul and his team got their asses handed to them later on.

Still, that had been a fun match to watch. “Well that's one way to start a tournament. A complete, one-sided beatdown. Hope there aren't too many of those today though. That would just make me feel like the people in charge of this should come up with a better way to divide the competition.”

The old man chuckled at that. “Regardless of the level of a tournament the first round or two tends to have a number of mismatches. People who technically qualify but aren't quite at the average getting weeded out as the average and extraordinary competitors prove they have what it takes. I'm not sure how many you’d think are too many but at least the one sided ones are generally pretty quick. And not every overwhelmed competitor refuses to surrender.”  
____________

Katsumi wasn't counting how many matches happened before it was his turn. Hell, he barely paid attention to those matches when he could have been getting a feel for just how tough the average person was. He was too excited, absorbed by the sheer amount of energy that was all over the building now that things were kicking off. Everything after the first extremely loud noise signifying the first match all turned into one big blur.

Sure, he wasn't the only one in the tournament, and he’d already embarrassed himself. Still, it's not like the cameras caught him going to the lady’s room. Just the..incredibly attractive one armed blonde amazon he’d met earlier. Not a great thing but not a day ruining disaster either. Besides, she was probably in one of the higher end competitions, not the one for low ranked trainers. Soon enough he’d be on stage, showing his stuff in front of countless people both in the arena itself and around the world. Or at least wherever else in the world people were getting the footage of the tournament. It wasn't adrenaline, at least he didn't think it was, but there was something in him that was like a drug. Something electric in his veins that made him too energetic to think or stay still and both sped up the clock and made everything and everyone around him feel way too slow for comfort. It just didn't make sense, and he didn't have anything to measure it against.

Hearing his name on the PA managed to get his attention and at least got his brain working enough to actually move. Red gate, station two. Shouldn't be too hard to find, even in this crowd of lively people. At the very least the signs for it were above the crowd instead of easily obscured by them.

And it ‘was’ easy to find. Just follow the big red arrows with a number two. And when he got there in the one-man waiting room there was a small screen with the name and line-up of his opponent. Tessa Yates, with a mankey, beedrill, and..huh, some ferret looking Pokémon. He didn't remember the name of it but he could have sworn that was a Johto mon. Okay, looked like a normal type, no secondaries. His charmander, nidoran, and pidgey shouldn't have too much trouble. At the very least he had two type advantages over her bug. The other two, well at least he didn't have any obvious weaknesses they could exploit.

The buzzer for the end of the previous match rang out, and he felt the hype build up again in his veins until he was shaking like a revved up engine. Oh yeah, come on, send the announcement that he was going in. Send it sendit!  
\---------------------

“Five matches in and we've seen a surprising amount of talent from a number of first timers!”

“Hey, everybody's got talent somewhere, the question is who can draw on the right talent at the right time.”

“Still, you've got to admit a few of these kids are head and shoulders above the average in their age group.”

“I'll believe that when I see them keep it up for the second and third rounds. This is just their first impression.”

“Well in my mind first impressions are as good a time to get a feel for someone as any. And as first impressions go miss Tessa Yates is making some waves before she even steps in! Her family just recently moved from Johto to Kanto and she decided the best way to get acclimated to an entirely different region was to join the first tournament in her new home city!”

“The kid’s got guts, no doubt about it. Most people her age would be pretty shy when they make a move that big, not stepping in front of a major crowd. But it takes more than guts to go far in this game.”

“That it does. Her opponent is Katsumi of Pallet Town. Technically speaking he's closer to home than she is but home field advantage doesn't count for much in your first round in your first tournament!”

“Well then why did you even mention it?”  
\---------------

There was something..intangible when he walked out of the gate and into the actual arena. Like an invisible field that took that energy in him and altered it, made it something he could actually use instead of be absorbed by. Earlier he was giddy with anticipation, and that giddiness was still there, but he was actually ‘here’ now. Surrounded on all sides by stands full of people in a mostly empty field. He was on stage, a focus for countless people. He’d worried he might get stage fright, that he’d be too scared to really do anything, but as he scanned the crowd all he could think was he was no longer a spectator. Now he was part of the show, and regardless of if he embarrassed himself or not..

There was an excited pair of twins in the second row that were rapidly chattering to eachother how awesome the last match was. A pair of old men in the seventh who were clearly far less awed, probably insulting the competitors so far. A father explaining something to his child. And more importantly, there was the girl coming out of the white gate, his opponent. Right this minute she had officially become the most important person in his life.

Truth be told she wasn't much to look at, but then it’d be hard for your average eleven to thirteen year old girl with shoulder length brown hair to make an instant impression like that Yang girl did. Not anywhere near the same number of attention grabbing details. Still, in terms of facial expressions that eager grin and the glint in her eyes meant she was having fun, and he found himself mirroring the expression as he thumbed his first Pokéball.

A loud buzz for the start of the match, and he let loose his nidoran with a yell. “Baragon! Let's get this started!”  
\--------------------

When she first saw that Katsumi kid’s name on the screen Yang leaned forward in her seat. Noticing the questioning look the old man sent her way Yang mentioned, “Ran into that kid today twice. Kind of reminds me of a few people I know. Not really rooting for him but it’ll be fun watching how he does things.”

He smiled at that, “Yes, it’s a nice feeling when you personally know one of the competitors, even if it was a short meeting. Anyone else you’re keeping an eye out for?”

Yang couldn't help it, she gave a quick laugh at that. “Yeah, another kid named Masamune.”

And she felt guilty laughing at the definitely unintentional joke. Really? ‘Keep an eye out’ for the boy with just one eye? Yeah, she really doubted she’d personally laugh at any hand jokes, but it was apparently okay for her to laugh at an eye joke when the guy who was the butt of the joke wasn't even here to defend himself?

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she took stock of what each of the trainers let loose. Katsumi had sent out some purple thing with adorable rabbit ears and a horn. Not a very long horn either, it looked more like a nose just above its actual nose than a natural weapon. Nidoran, with a symbol for male next to the species name. Why did a purple rabbit thing get something to tell people what gender it was but all the others she’d seen so far hadn't? And she’d seen dozens of these pokémon things in the past hour.

On the other end, Tessa had let loose a ‘very’ disturbingly large bee. Holy crap, that bug was bigger than its trainer! And while she couldn't tell ‘exactly’ how long the two arm-stinger things were, she had the sense they were longer than either piece of Blake’s Gambol Shroud. Why did it ‘need’ those stingers when the tail stinger looked so big and sharp on its own?! Most importantly why didn't it have legs?!

Now, she wasn't the type to be scared of bugs. Hell, she’d fought against the occasional deathstalker and those were bigger than a minivan! But as someone who liked bees enough to name her bike Bumblebee seeing this beedrill thing just gave her a shiver. It was..okay, probably wrong to say that it looked twisted and wrong, she could practically see Blake giving an annoyed glare as she judged that thing from sheer looks alone but come on! As if Blake wouldn't complain if Nora started hammering things left and right while wearing a bright pink ninja outfit!

The old man thankfully distracted her with a tactical analysis. “Well, Tessa is certainly lucky that Katsumi didn't start with either of his other pokémon. Still, even without a type disadvantage it's not like a poison type can poison another poison type.”

The two creatures charged eachother at the same time, the cute little rabbit not at all intimidated by the large bug. The rabbit jumped, clearly hoping to tackle the bug in the midsection but missed as the bug dodged to the side. As it dodged one of those arm stingers lashed out, stabbing against a hind leg. Ouch. Not quite as fast as Ruby but still hard to track, and unlike Ruby it wasn't swinging around a large object. Probably the first creature in this entire tournament she thought would give the average Beacon student trouble. And its stabs..those were quick jabs, but when your arms look like small lances it's not like you need to use any hooks or uppercuts to get the job done. She wouldn't want to face something like that unless she was at her best, and her best was ‘gone’.

No matter how she looked at it Yang couldn't see a good way for Katsumi to deal with this. “Yeah, definitely a mismatch in terms of speed. And since it can fly the beedrill’s going to be tough to pin down or outmaneuver enough for the nidoran to jump at it.”

The bee didn't give the nidoran the chance to escape or even get some distance. Just hovering near the rabbit’s left rear leg and poking at the..was shoulder the right word? Yang wasn't an expert on four legged anatomy. But she did know that something capable of doing a moving hover and keep pace with you when you're running isn't something you should deal with in a one on one environment, and if something keeps jabbing at the same joint over and over again sooner or later you're not going to be able to use that limb too well.

Not that Katsumi had the option to send out any other pokémon to support his nidoran, though she didn't see any reason to keep that little guy out there either. At best he could yell directions at it, comically waving his arms like a traffic cop when the purple rabbit he was crying out to wasn't able to see the exaggerated motions, though the nidoran certainly heard him and made a sharp left, and then a few minor adjustments to his path that felt odd..until the bee, completely focused on its target, crashed against a wall it wasn't paying attention to. Nice use of terrain, but it wouldn't have worked if the bee had some better spacial awareness.

The crowd cheered as the nidoran spun around and tackled the dazed bug, biting at one of its shoulders as they hit the ground. Yang could only wince as the now flat on its back bug started to punch with its free spike, forcing the nidoran off its body. However, the little guy just jumped onto one of the bee’s wings and started kicking at its head. Now the crowd was going wild as the nidoran and beedrill just traded blows. There was no thought of defense, no mercy, just frantic brawling where each hoped the other’s aura ran out first.

Yang wasn't sure which part of the brutal ground brawl annoyed her more. The way everyone in the stands cheered for the now mindless beatdown. The fact that Katsumi apparently thought this was a ‘good’ exchange based on the way he was yelling towards his pokémon. The way the nidoran winced whenever one of its legs kicked out and the bee’s aura took less damage whenever that happened. Hell, it could have been anything and everything. Whatever the case she just groaned. “Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Really? Choosing to do a quick bit of attrition where you're likely to lose and everyone thinks that's a ‘good’ thing?!”

The old man hummed a moment before saying, “Indeed. While it was clever to use Tessa’s lack of attention to the terrain to his advantage, there were better ways to use that opening. Still, there's something to be said about a very determined offensive.”

Yang clenched her fists at that. “Yeah. And the thing that ‘should’ be said is don't get into an endurance contest in a ‘fight’ unless you're ‘very’ sure you completely outclass the other guy that way. Sure, it's softening the bug up for the next guy but..it's just a crappy and forced way to take one for the team.”

Neither of their auras lasted long, and the nidoran had already taken some hits before they started the mutual beatdown. Yang groaned again as Katsumi seemed surprised his pokémon lost the exchange, outright slack jawed as the rabbit was pushed off the wing by one final strike and fell on his side, curling into himself. Really kid? Thought your little buddy could come out on top of a mess like that?

Then Katsumi looked at the big screen that showed the auras and started grinning again. Really? The kid was unconcerned one of his team was out of aura and out of the match and more pleased the beedrill was down to the red?!

Even worse was the fact that Tessa didn't make any move to return her bee as Katsumi withdrew his fallen pokémon. As if the fact that the bug had ‘any’ aura left was good enough for it to keep going. If anything the odd lack of empathy from ‘both’ of them got her eyes to shift to red, even if she was still calm enough to stay in her seat and not yell for the sheer sake of venting. Dear god, both of these kids made ‘Cardin’ look like a good leader. Cardin freaking Winchester, exhibit A of cocky morons who thought raw muscle was better than anything else and felt everyone smaller than him was lesser!

Katsumi sent out his pidgey, the bird wasting little time swooping towards the badly hurt bee. Now, the bee had already shown more speed than the bird was showing and probably had more maneuverability. However the bug didn't try to use either. It just flew straight at the swooping bird with its tail stinger ready to stab. Again Yang tried to facepalm with a palm she no longer had. “Just..just what the hell.”

Even as badly beat up as the bug was it could have actually done some damage if it fought smart. Though the smartest thing to do was probably for Tessa to switch to a fresh pokémon. Not stick with one that was a love tap away from being done. Really, how the hell was an oversized bug flying right at an oversized bird’s beak anything other than a bad idea?!

The bug didn't get to stab with its tail, so the now glowing purple tip didn't mean anything. Poor thing just took a midair tackle to the midsection and was driven to the ground harder than its aura could take. As much as she was creeped out by the oversized and vicious looking bee she couldn't help wincing in sympathy.

The old man seemed less concerned about whatever pain the now broken auraed bug had taken as he rubbed at his mustache. “Well in terms of trainer abilities the pair seem rather even. Unless their pokémon have some surprising tricks in store this should be pretty close.”

Tessa sent out her mankey next, the little ape eager and raring to go, jumping and throwing a few kicks in the air in a quick bit of burning off excess energy before the fight. It was a furry ball of excitement and fury, and Yang couldn't help finding its antics cute. The little guy couldn't be more than two feet tall and he was acting like a prize fighter or something.

Then something else caught her attention, specifically the symbols for the types. Throughout the tournament so far Yang had seen a number of types and had a firm grasp of a number of weaknesses, even if she didn't understand them completely, and she was getting used to the identifying symbols. Fighting against flying type? “Wait, Tessa ‘chose’ to have a type disadvantage?”  
\-----------------

It didn't really matter to Katsumi which of the two other pokémon Tessa sent out. As far as he could remember he didn't have any type advantages over them. Just keep up a solid offense and he’d have a good chance to win. “Hurricane, charge at him!”

Eagerly his pidgey swooped at their fresh opponent, pecking at and clawing the monkey while dodging rapidly swinging legs and arms. There were a number of close calls but so far nothing hit Hurricane yet.  
\------------------

In terms of damage dealt the bird was winning. But it's not like there was a timer and the match could be decided by who had a lower aura percentage. Still, the pidgey was doing a lot of hovering and dodging. That was all well and good for a flier like a bee but a bird with that kind of build was better suited for hit and runs, not staying still and wailing on its opponent. It just looked awkward.

If nothing else Yang couldn't help comparing Katsumi’s pidgey to Azul from earlier. The one was predictable but mostly played to its strengths, using superior momentum and range of motion to control the pace of the battle. The other was clearly less skilled and pretty much danced around to the beat the opponent set. Sure, so far Katsumi’s bird managed to make it work but..

“He can't keep dodging those hands and legs all day. Not that close.”

The old man nodded. “Yes. The advantage of flying over fighting doesn't count for much when the flying type either doesn't know or chooses not to use a flying technique or superior mobility. Their bodies just aren't designed for a stationary slugging match. But that ‘is’ where a fighting type excels.”

It still didn't make sense to Yang how the whole type moves thing worked. As far as she could tell somebody started to glow somehow, usually the spot where they intended to attack with, and based on a rather large but mostly understandable web of inter-type interactions the attack either was oddly dulled or landed with more force than it looked like. Seriously, how does a bird ramming into a plant while glowing light blue do a hell of a lot more than ramming into the same thing at a faster speed? It almost made her want to take hits from the various types just to feel the difference, because seeing it wasn't telling the whole story. Probably a little insane to want to even ‘consider’ taking hits to get a feel for the proverbial taste of them, but that's 

Her thoughts cut off as the monkey finally got a grip on the bird, one of his legs catching the much skinnier leg. With one hand jabbing at the beak of his now panicking foe, the monkey’s other hand started to glow yellow. A glow that started to audibly crackle and spark louder than the downright ballistic crowd, and Yang felt herself get caught up in the excitement. “What?!”

The glowing yellow hand pulled back for one of the most telegraphed hooks Yang had ever seen. Impressive considering how short he was and the foot grip he had on his opponent. The electric charged punch slammed into the side of the bird’s face hard, sending the pidgey’s aura from green to a sliver of red. Not quite enough for an elimination but certainly enough to convince Katsumi to return his pokémon and pull out his third ball.

“Well, that kind of trick changes things a lot.”

“Indeed. And if Tessa has one trick up her sleeve she probably has others as well. Now, how is Katsumi going to try making up for that?”  
\---------------

While technically speaking Hurricane wasn't out of the fight a firm enough ‘hug’ would probably be enough to eliminate him. Holy crap that mankey knew thunder punch. Was there such a thing as water punch? If there was than Kiryu wouldn't stand a chance up close.

The moment his charmander left his ball Katsumi yelled, “Keep your distance, that ape’s a tricky one!”

Of course Tessa yelled at the same time, “Grapple and dismantle that lizard!”

With that the mankey started to charge and Kiryu started shooting embers from his mouth.  
\---------------

Yang was not quite surprised to see little fireballs launching from the charmander’s mouth. She couldn't help wondering if she would have been as willing to consider the three pokémon she'd first interacted with as cute, innocent and child-like if she’d known from the start this was the kind of thing they could do. Hell, from what she’d seen in the tournament so far it was hard to ‘not’ wonder just how terrifying the larger, actually intimidating creatures were if the cute ones could be so vicious.

The monkey stopped rushing forward around five yards away from his opponent, the fireballs too accurate and frequent for him to keep dodging and weaving around them. Now he was just rolling to the side and jumping straight up.

If the monkey was smart he would have just kept dodging until the charmander got tired, but no. He had to get impatient, grab a small rock from the ground and throw it in an attempt to distract his opponent so he could close the distance.

Unfortunately for him the charmander saw it coming, paused his fire just long enough to drop to all fours and when the rock came flying he spun around and struck the rock with his tail. The rock flew right into the monkey’s eye, leaving him immobile for a precious few seconds in shocked pain. More than long enough for a fireball to crash against him, making him stumble. A second fireball struck, knocking him onto his ass and leaving his aura in the red. Dazed, trying to get back on his feet, the monkey tried to stand back up only to take a third fireball to the face. That finished him, his fur coat positively smoldering.

As Tessa withdrew the monkey and pulled out her final pokémon, a cute little bundle of fur called a sentret, and it somehow reminded her of the maril. Not quite the same shape, but still something that looked more like a toy meant to cuddle in bed rather than something that had any actual business fighting. Sure, the fluffy tail somehow had enough strength to pick the little guy up, and she couldn’t tell if those two upper limbs were arms or meant to be some kind of wings that hadn’t quite grown right. Maybe it was just a thing in the rookie tournament that people could more easily handle the cuter ones, but she was actually starting to get ‘tired’ of seeing especially adorable things trying to act tough.

Yang couldn't help glancing at her own pair of pokémon. Neither of them felt adorable enough to be plush toys, which made them more appealing to work with. Not that she’d ‘object’ to seeing plush toy versions of them, just that the toy makers would have to deform them a bit to get the same effect as things like the marill and sentret.

Phyllis looked downright fascinated by everything she’d been seeing down there, probably because she’d never imagined there to be so many different pokémon capable of so many different things. The wonder on her face just reminded her so much of Ruby the first time she’d ever gone to a weapon convention it hurt. So completely enthralled that it was like she was in a trance. A trance that allowed for her to zip all over the place to try to absorb as much of what was going on as possible, and given Ruby’s speed that was ‘very’ tough to keep an eye on her but still..well at least Phyllis was unlikely to get ‘that’ fast, and that they could watch everything they needed to while sitting in one spot.

Whereas Duncan, well he was reminding Yang of Weiss. Trying hard to look disinterested and failing miserably. That sense of pride trying to hide the obvious excitement, definitely wanting to be the same or at least similar to the birds he’d seen down there. Of course Weiss had the excuse that she had a killjoy father who seemed to make everything worse just by the smallest possible connection to something. Why was Duncan trying to maintain some image that he was better than all this?

So it was with a sense of almost obligation that Yang started wondering how to make them ‘better’ in a fight. Definitely something she’d probably find even tougher than the whole interview thing that the professor wanted her to do. Hell, she couldn't even manage to teach her own sister hand-to-hand when she still had two hands! How was she supposed to in any way coach a bird and a plant-lizard?! And the whole ordering them thing..she wasn’t really the ordering type. She either followed someone else’s lead or went off in her own direction, she wasn’t really the leader type. But it's not like she could just not try! Not the way they were looking at the tournament and when she saw even the occasional ten year old kid doing a reasonable job at it.

Her eyes again focused on the action in the arena. The sentret and charmander were both in pretty bad shape, their auras critical. Where the lizard looked tired and could barely shoot those fireballs anymore the ferret looked roughed up but raring to go as he eagerly spat another absurd amount of water..despite the fact the water was definitely more than the little guy's bodyweight and he didn't even have the vague excuse of being a water type.

Just as a fresh spray looked ready to splash against the almost done fire type, Katsumi switched pokémon, the water just phasing through the light like it didn't exist. The poor ferret was caught flat footed as the bird swooped for a tackle finished as the klaxon rang out for the end of the match.  
\--------------------

Wow..he wasn't entirely sure he could actually pull it off but wow. He..managed to win. He won!

Judging from the look on Tessa’s face she wouldn't mind him doing a little victory dance.  
\-------------------

“Well that was certainly a close one!”

“It sure was, without a doubt the closest matchup we’ve seen so far. Tessa Yates had the skill and talent to get the job done, and she had a few unexpected counters.”

“Well Katsumi showed he can think on his feet and has quite the team working for him. It’ll be interesting to see these two grow in later competitions.”

“Really? I'm seeing some bad form there. I could stand to see less of it.”

“Well it's his first win in his first tournament, you've got to allow some, shall we say, less than professional behavior as he celebrates.”

“I didn't mean he shouldn't do a victory dance, he deserves it. I meant he either needs to up his dancing skills or spare us from seeing that embarrassing thing. I swear I’ve seen drunks move more smoothly than that.”  
\-------------------

Author’s Note: Right. Sorry it took me so long to get any writing done. Been a very busy time for me and I doubt the holidays are going to make things any easier but I’ll certainly try. As the first real action bit in this story I wanted to really make it work, did three different rewrites before getting this bloated monster of a chapter. Also doing some mental reevaluating.

To be perfectly honest there is absolutely no way I’m going to pull off an entire bloody tournament, this was mostly just so Yang would have a chance to watch battles going on and see how even little kids manage to do a solid job of leading even if she’s not really the leader type. And part of how I wanted to pull that off, with the old man/Shingen basically being the mentor character, just didn’t really feel right as I was working on this. That what she needs isn’t some Yoda hanging over her shoulder giving her constant nuggets of wisdom and knowledge as she goes from town to city to cave to whatever. She ‘really’ needs to figure things out on her own, with at best some friendly advice from people she comes across on the road.

And at this point the only constant companions she’s going to have are her Pokémon. My initial thought was to have her, Masamune, and Katsumi being a traveling trio like the old anime with Ash, Misty, and Brock but it doesn’t feel all that right the more I expand the story and think about it. ‘Eventually’ Katsumi and Yang are going to end up traveling together at some point, still like that idea, it just won’t happen immediately as she leaves Viridian City the first time. And Masamune, well, I like the things I’ve put down in my notes for him to discard him completely but he’s going on the proverbial shelf for now.

Before I close things up and finally get started on the next Modern Warfare chapter, I’ve got a question for the people reading this on FF net. I really feel that though Yang is in a completely different world it’s still more of a RWBY fic than Pokémon, mostly because none of the characters feels one hundred percent like the incarnations of the characters from Pokémon to me, even if they share the same names. On the other hand when you try to search for stories with a T rating with Yang as a character this story is just ‘buried’ to the point it’s hard for anyone to find. Especially with tens of thousands of stories in this category. So should I try to find a way to shift this thing over to the Pokémon/RWBY crossover section just for the sake of making it easier to find? Or is it okay for me to keep it in the RWBY section?

..okay, back to bloody work. Hope you enjoyed the chapter even if it is about twice as long as the last one.


	12. Chapter 12

Expanding a Pallet   
Chapter 12

Three days. The tournament had been going on for three days so far, and frankly Yang was getting sick of it. Not that she could outright say so when Phyllis was definitely enamored by it, or when the only person she could talk to on a regular basis, the old man, was having fun in his own way. Or at least he seemed to, even as he gave near constant criticisms to the way each trainer led their team.

Maybe it was the fact that the tournament didn't seem to change things up enough from one match to another. One pokémon at a time, first team to get three eliminations wins. Nothing to differentiate one match from another other than who and what was in the arena at the time. Didn't matter which series of competitions she glanced at, rookies or tried and true professionals, it was all oddly monotonous. All in the same unchanging, flat arena with the big pokéball image on the ground, with the same one at a time first to three knockout rules every..single..time. They didn't even have a ring-out for quicker or more clever wins.

For the hell of it she watched that Kenshin guy if only to see why that crowded room just ceased ‘all’ activity when he walked through. Just about every match he had was short and one sided in his favor. Few lasted long enough for his opponent to even have a chance to strike back. Weaknesses exploited with brutal efficiency, his team moving without him having to say a word. At most he made some hand gestures, things that at times his pokémon had no chance to see but they reacted to all the same. It was easy to see how he won every time. It was equally easy to say she wasn't a fan of the guy.

Maybe it was the fact she compared him to Pyrrha and felt he couldn't measure up in ‘any’ category. Where Pyrrha was near constantly smiling unless a friend of hers was in trouble or when she was concentrating especially hard, Kenshin had a stern, stony look that never changed. Where Pyrrha gave even her weakest foes a look of respect, either praising their strengths or noting how they managed to surprise her in their match with the notable exception of her four on one beatdown of team CDNL, Kenshin looked at all his foes with derision, as if insulted they wasted his time in the approximately two minutes or less he dismantled them. Seriously, that guy felt like he ‘needed’ a humbling and nobody was around to pull it off.

It didn't help that she was fresh from the Vytal Festival, with plenty of little gimmick and terrain changes between rounds before everything went to hell. An anti-gravity section, desert, water, mountain, tundra, urban, with rounds that involved a full four people per team, or just a pair, or singles. It was like comparing a ham sandwich to a pork roast, even if she got burned by her last match in the Festival the sheer amount of effort and attention to detail..great, now she was thinking like Weiss. Again. Why was it whenever she started feeling critical around here she felt like she should put her hair in a side tail? Was it even possible to do that with one hand?

It was equally likely she just wished some people she actually knew were here in some capacity. Ruby, Pyrrha, her dad, hell she’d even settle for Junior or Neptune! Just ‘anyone’ familiar from Remnant regardless of if she liked them or not! It was..ugh, just the whole world here itched at her. From the way kids were allowed to just wander without any kind of supervision from town to town to the lack of anything remotely similar to a hunter to the lack of even a basic town militia!

It ‘really’ said something about her mindset when the moment the last match of the day ended she wandered over to a local police office and just..observed. And she felt so critical of them that if Weiss could hear her thoughts than the usually brutally honest heiress would tell her to give them some slack. She could honestly imagine Weiss of all people telling her to ease up. Did that mean she felt her friend had become a more relaxed person, or that Yang was just plain tense all the time here? And why was she comparing herself to Weiss so much anyway?! Why not Blake or Goodwitch or..actually, yeah, Weiss was typically more critical than anyone else she knew, even the strictest teacher at Beacon.

But really, the most athletic of the police at the station she was looking at were the morning jogger type. Slim, could probably do a decent amount of cross country before getting tired but not what she would consider strong. Junior’s thugs would ‘easily’ be able to dominate these people even unarmed and with a five to one disadvantage! At least one guy was so disgustingly fat he defied belief, she'd honestly seen pigs slimmer and those were ‘purposely’ fattened up to feed people. Whatever the power to weight ratio was on his car had to be downright amazing with the way he barely fit through the door. No weapons of any kind that she could see on any of them, not even a basic pistol. Everyone just had pokéballs. Granted, she didn't know what creatures were in each ball and how well they worked with each cop but..

..but it just felt ‘bizarre’. A world full of monsters and nobody seemed in any way prepared to fight for ‘themselves’. They just let a bunch of monsters they raised themselves do all the fighting for them. All too frequently she asked herself what would happen if the Grimm ever popped up during ‘this’ tournament, and all she could think was that it would be a complete and utter massacre. Maybe she was just being overly harsh based on watching mostly rookies competing with eachother. But then a basic beowolf pack wouldn’t play by the rules and just fight each and every individual pokemon a trainer sent out one at a time. They’d maybe have one or two spend time on the pokemon and the rest would swarm and devour the helpless trainer with just as much ease as any civilian.

And then there was the whole question of where the meat around here came from. As far as she could see everyone acted like they lived in complete harmony with pokémon despite having them go through ‘brutal’ fights. Fights that sometimes ended with second degree burns if not outright smoldering flesh, or entirely encased in ice. Kind of a disconnect if they were potentially raising some of their little “friends” to be slaughtered and eaten. What determined the difference between “friend” and meal? Pure luck? And why were the competitive fights so rough? It's not like they were training to deal with some threat in the world, this was just..

Duncan flew by her face, cutting off any further thoughts she had. Little guy landed right in front of her and gave her a piercing stare, as if to say “get out of your head and back in the now” and she couldn't help chuckling a bit. It's not like she’d been enjoying the way her thoughts were going anyway. “Right, right. Sorry Duncan. Let's go. Come on, Phyllis.”

The trio moved towards the outskirts of town, towards a nice little area just south of what was called Viridian Forest. She’d been, well, ‘trying’ to do the whole training thing. Taking what she observed in the various matches and coming up with what amounted to calisthenics for her two little buddies.

It probably wasn't the kind of training a lot of other people gave their pokémon, more focused on getting a feel for their physical limits and how to try pushing them than her getting them to follow orders or firm up fighting skills. Still, she wasn't the leader type. Ruby undoubtedly was, and anyone who said different was either an idiot or an asshole. Weiss, not so naturally but through sheer force of will and some textbook knowledge of how to direct others she could make a strong showing. Blake possibly if push came to shove and she felt fired up enough to shove back, but not Yang. She was more the type to either let someone else take the reins or go in her own direction. Probably made things even tougher when she had to pick up the slack when she and Ruby were growing up. She was the strong, nurturing sister. The steady rock hard, play hard..great, she was so unsure of herself she couldn't even finish that thought.

Still, this felt as good a way as any to start things off. She couldn't help wondering if this was the sort of thing one of those pokémon gym leaders did, or if the word gym had a different meaning around here. It’s not like she could imagine a bird lifting weights alongside someone like Nora. Not unless the birds here could grow as large as a nevermore.

All she could say for certain was it was something to do, an active thing to keep her mind focused on. If it was especially good than it'd keep her brain from wandering to people she probably wasn't going to see again and how out of place she felt..  
\---------------

If nothing else her exercises were getting her more familiar with the physical abilities of each of them. And she was..well, not completely used to missing her dominant hand but at least convincing herself one less limb wasn't the end.

Duncan was, well, a flier. And from what she could tell was somewhere between a hovering kind of flier like that beedrill thing and the more momentum based pidgies. He had to flap his wings more often than a pidgey at any rate, so if it came down to a contest of who could fly further she had the feeling Duncan would run out of steam faster. And he didn't hover as smoothly as a beedrill either, with rapid rises and drops and unable to keep the same altitude when staying still for extended periods of time.

He was pretty fast though. Not Ruby quality you-can't-follow-with-your-eyes speed but still something. Hard to judge since she had only seen the pidgies in the tournament from a distance but based on the ones she’d seen in the wild Duncan could probably outrun them. Was outrun the right word for flying faster? It was also hard to tell how his maneuverability fared in comparison to the only other bird she was in any way familiar with around here. Still, he could pull some pretty tight turns, even at top speed he could twist around within a fifty degree angle in just around any direction. The first time he pulled something like that she went slack jawed.

Even without her missing arm training him was going to be a lot more challenging than anything else she could think of. He was proud, had a sense of cockiness despite whatever had left him brutally beaten to the point of near death, and regardless of what she could come up with he would give her a glance that felt like an arrogant “really?”. Even when he was so tired he couldn't flap his wings anymore there was a sense if he could talk he’d ask “is that all you've got?”. Always ready to prove himself, but at least sensible enough to avoid doing obscenely stupid crap to show off. At least for now, though maybe those tight turns weren't good for him. It's not like she could tell. She was still getting a feel for his personality and it's not like she knew how he’d react to a real challenge, assuming she could come up with one.

So for now she stuck with throwing some objects into the air for him to swoop at before they hit the ground. Four rocks, one of which was white while the other three were gray.The white he had to grab and toss to her, the greys he had to throw to Phyllis. She figured it was a good way to both make sure he could see small details while moving as fast as he could and gave his legs something to do. After all, he couldn’t catch everything with his beak and then toss the objects in two different directions. Probably not the ‘best’ form of training for him, especially since catching a rock in his beak was a potential choking hazard, but she didn’t have a whole lot of other ideas. Her attempt at an obstacle course yesterday took way too much time to set up and didn't feel like he was actually tested at all anyway.

As for Phyllis, she wasn’t built for speed in any way, shape, or form. She was a chubby lizard with a plant on her back and stubby little legs. Cute, but even Zwei had a better body type for speed. So there wasn’t too much point in having her run around to try moving faster. Possibly something to do at a later time to get a better sense of her stamina though, but that didn't feel like the best thing to have her do at this stage. Yang didn’t really have any ideas what to do with the whole seed launching thing she saw back when they were trying to reach Viridian, or any of the little abilities she’d seen in the pokedex like “razor leaf” or “solar beam”, assuming the little girl even knew how to pull stuff like that off. Seriously? “Razor leaf”? Phyllis didn't even look like her plant part had leaves, and what made them razors? Freaking pokédex just kept throwing terms out there and didn't actually explain much of anything. Still, Yang had a few ideas involving those vines.

The first day trying to get her to lift the dumbbell, even when it had lighter weights attached to it, was a wasted effort. A wasted effort that nearly made the poor girl cry and made Yang feel guilty for pushing her beyond her limit that quickly on the first day. Still, the thing about mistakes is you can learn what not to do. If doing twenty reps with twenty pounds was too much for her right now than she’d focus on other things. Whenever Duncan threw rocks at Phyllis she was supposed to catch them as quickly as possible and then throw them at Yang. Again, probably not the best idea using rocks like balls but it was the best she could come up with for now. Besides, after fifteen years of dealing with Ruby it’s not like she couldn’t keep her eye on some fast moving objects and predict where they were heading.

Frankly the exercise was probably doing Yang just as much good as them, she was doing sit-ups as well as trying to keep track of the rocks ‘and’ both of the pokemon. Tracking two different mobile creatures, catching objects and throwing them with just one hand, it was actually a fun little twist to a usually forgettable bit of staying in shape. And she wasn't occasionally trying to catch with an arm she didn't have. Did that count as progress? Or was she just fooling herself?

Not that she was likely to come up with a lot of other exercises that would let the three of them just flow together and cooperate like this. All three of them were just too physically different in terms of body type, and extremely likely needs as well. Should she try to think of ways to improve Phyllis’ strength that didn't involve weight lifting? Could she think of ways to really work on how Duncan flew? Were there any bird-fu masters or plant/lizard martial arts books? And dear god, just how much more complicated would things get if she started getting more pokémon? She’d seen a starfish thing with a jewel where the mouth should be, how did you exercise or even ‘feed’ that? And what if she actually got a fish? It's not like she had a bowl of water she could carry around or something. And a fish on land, well, just the mental image felt cruel, much less the flopping around she saw in the tournament. You may as well launch Jaune into the air repeatedly and try to see which made a bigger splatter, his puke or his body when his aura ran dry.

And great, her mind was still wandering around in very grim directions despite her actually trying to concentrate on catching the rocks and measure how well her two little buddies were doing at the same thing. Was imagining Jaune being abused to the point of gory death better or worse than imagining Blake jumping into a pokémon match with a crazed grin and a cooking knife. Hell, did her partner’s love of seafood mean more than fish and squid, or was a starfish where she drew the line? Yang wasn’t an expert on seafood. Hell, what ‘was’ she an expert at other than being a substitute mom, a fiery boxer, and kind of a thug? How was her team doing without her? Were they even still ‘alive’ or..

It was hard to tell just how long they kept that exercise up. An hour at the very least. Still, eventually Phyllis started to visibly run out of steam, moving more sluggishly and less zip in her throws, and Duncan was starting to breathe hard, though neither seemed to want to admit they were done. Maybe because Yang wasn't even breaking a sweat. Cute, and was a good sign of their work ethic for repetitive tasks.

So Yang called it quits for them. She was more interested in personally staying in shape and trying to see what limits she had to work with from her little buddies, not giving them a brutal workout. “Right, this seems like as good a way to end it for the day as any. Anyone else hungry or is it just me?”

Phyllis was definitely appreciative of the idea the workout was over, almost crawling into Yang’s lap before collapsing in a cute little heap. Possibly a little exaggerated, or just the result of not much experience working out. Whereas Duncan just landed on her shoulder and tried to look like he was perfectly fine despite the slight wheeze when he cawed. If anything his attempt to act tough was more hilarious than Phyllis’ over the top drop.

Of course now she had the awkward challenge of trying to reach for her bag while trying not to disturb the positions of either of her little buddies. In the end she just waddled with her butt until she got close enough to comfortably get it over her shoulder, then grabbed Phyllis in as comfortable a way as she could manage and got to her feet.

As she walked back in the general direction of the city, she couldn’t help noticing how many other people had decided to use the outskirts for their own little bonding sessions with their pokemon. The methods were as varied as the people and creatures. One kid was cuddling with a pink ball of fluff that looked bigger than he or she was, the remains of a picnic scattered around them as they napped. A teenage boy sprinting in a race with the rest of his team, being somewhere in the middle of the pack as he laughed. An older man walking alongside a two legged lizard thing with comically small wings. A girl with a conductor’s stick-thing getting a bunch of varied birds to sing while flying in coordinated, complicated patterns.

Well since there didn’t seem to be any kind of standard way to get along with these pokemon things it made Yang ‘less’ concerned she was somehow screwing up. At least the old man and the professor weren't just throwing around platitudes when they said there was no real wrong way to go about it. Now if only she could find something that really got her blood pumping and left her eager for more instead of going through motions for the sake of doing ‘something’.

Was it wrong that a place that felt like it’d be total heaven for Ruby was getting her down so constantly and frequently? It was just so ‘frustrating’ that she knew there were plenty of things she ‘could’ enjoy here but couldn’t muster the enthusiasm to just let go and enjoy everything around her. At best she just gave herself some obligations and tried to follow through on them. Mysterious ghost-Pyrrha wants her to watch the tournament, she’ll watch the tournament even when she’s getting bored of it, because why stop bothering to go when her two new buddies were enjoying themselves. The professor she first met wants her to go all over the place talking to important people? Fine. It's something to do, even if she's not that confident. It's not like there's anything else she could be doing.

Considering how muted or negative her emotions tended to be from one moment to the next, it was actually rather surprising just how much being around Phyllis was the brightest part of each day. Always ready to please, attentive to her moods, smart enough to try thinking of solutions to anything that might be annoying or nagging her. Not that the little girl actually ‘could’ solve all the things that nagged at Yang, but the constant, innocent efforts were appreciated.

And oddly enough Duncan’s more selfish attitude was also a pleasant way out of her own issues. It was downright amazing he was so confident so soon after getting so badly hurt. Hell, considering she only put him in his ball whenever he ‘wanted’, it was amazing he didn’t just choose to fly off on his own considering how willful he could be at times. Sometimes he’d look at the food she gave him with disdain, occasionally zipping off just to come back minutes later with a freshly killed smaller animal and somehow managing a grin on his beak that said “now this is ‘real’ food”.

Maybe she shouldn’t feel so surprised and heart-warmed every time he came back. Maybe she should wonder if the creature he blatantly killed might have been someone else’s partner/friend or whatever. Or if the creature he killed might have potentially been someone to join their little group. But really, the only thing she could do was smile, maybe try to cook the meal before digging in with Duncan and occasionally chuckle as Phyllis nibbled a bit as well.

It certainly wasn’t team RWBY, cracked in their own unique ways and each with a combination of endearing and infuriating quirks that she wouldn't change, but Yang could have done a ‘lot’ worse than end up with these two. Now, what kind of letter acronym thing should she give her team. Was it right to even think about doing something like that when she didn’t know if they’d be gaining any other members? PDY, DPY, YPD, DYP..no, no catchy name coming to mind there. Maybe with more letters? Yeesh, hopefully she wouldn’t decide on a pokemon’s name just because she get really attached to a particular team name she wanted to hang over their heads.

Before her brain could go in some other random direction, Duncan poked her in the cheek with his beak and made a quick squawk. “Right, right..so, we’re going to stop off at the gym, see if we can get the first interview thing done, or at least get a sense of how long the leader’s going to be gone.”  
\-------------------

..okay then. When she was imagining what this gym looked like, she had two different ideas. Either this guy would pull the same kind of ridiculous design decisions he did for those chairs in the VIP lounge, or it'd look like the kind of non-pokémon gym she was used to.

Of course she kind of expected to be able to walk in, or at least look through a window. Neither existed. The place looked more like a small warehouse from the outside, nothing grandiose about it. Hell, it was sandwiched between two unremarkable five story apartment buildings. She probably would have missed it entirely if it wasn't the only one story building for miles.

No fancy carving on the door like the bed Oak had her sleep in. No sign saying they were closed or note saying when they’d be open again. Just a very plain, locked door. Considering how the professor tried to convince her how important these gyms were, that was pretty disappointing. Not that she’d been looking forward to doing one of these interview things, just that it felt..awkward, for lack of a better way to put it.

Of course just about everything, even the things she could have done with ease like just walking through a crowd, felt awkward to her around here. Maybe she should look into getting a thesaurus installed onto the pokédex. Was it even possible to install new things onto that thing? Was she just spoiled by how great her scroll was back on Remnant?

Not that she’d have been able to get much use out of it out here. No towers to connect with, all the games she’d installed on the damned thing required two hands, and she didn't even know if anyone on her contacts list was still alive. Hell, she didn't even bother asking for that little piece of home to come with her. All she’d have been able to do was look at pictures she took both before and during her time at Beacon.

Giving the locked door in front of her one more knocking, Yang was ‘really’ getting sick and tired of the direction her thoughts kept going. Stuck in the unknown, and she kept getting bombarded with depressing crap that made her wonder how and why she bothered getting out of bed in the morning. Sure, always at least one thing that was new every day, but..she just felt so..  
\--------------------

Part of Weiss found it oddly funny. When she first arrived at Beacon, she just reflexively recoiled at everything and everyone.

Ruby Rose, a hyperactive girl two years younger who had so many random flips between brilliant and stupid that anyone trying to keep track would start feeling dizzy. Add in her childish enthusiasm, social ineptitude, and inexplicable drive to help people regardless of how mundane the problem and Weiss couldn't count the number of times her partner made her brain go haywire. It's not that she didn't appreciate Ruby, far from it. Just that there were only so many times per day she could be caught off guard before wanting to jump on a table and scream. Who’d have guessed Weiss wanted a red blur of spontaneity to drag her around for something random now? Something to break up the monotony of high class events and waiting for the next one.

Blake Belladonna, a girl that mostly kept to herself until something pushed her self-righteous button. Then she became self-destructively passionate, which was made worse by her egotistical attitude that she was the only possible person who could solve the world's problems. Add in the intangible tension between a former member of the White Fang and the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, and you had random moments where they unintentionally rubbed eachother the wrong way. Still, they’d grown to respect one another. And damn, Weiss would have preferred a repeat of some of their most vitriolic arguments over the vapid,’boring’ people she’d had to interact with on a daily basis ever since her father dragged her back to the mansion.

Yang Xiao Long, a free spirited brute of a girl with a contagious sense of humor. Warm hearted, teasing, protective of everyone around her, but very quick to offense. It was kind of frightening how quickly she could switch from laid back to berserk, even when you figured out her triggers. And disconcerting that Weiss felt comfortable around her despite that. That she had gotten into a category of people that Yang would never harm no matter how furious, that despite their rocky introduction she was..family.

All of three of them were family to Weiss. Closer to her than anyone, even Winter. Not too long ago, she’d have scoffed at the idea of anyone being closer to her heart than her sister. But she’d never just laid in bed, staring at random pictures involving her sister. And she didn't worry about Winter anywhere near as much. Of course part of that had to do with how things were last time she saw any of them.

Last time she saw Yang was just before the evacuation of Beacon, when she went rushing to help Blake. Then her aura went down on her scroll, followed by an inexplicable “too far to read” notification. The last time she saw Blake..well, she was notably without Yang, tears streaming down her face and making some kind of primal scream that could only be described as grieving fury. She just disappeared without a word after that. And Ruby was in a coma. No visible injuries, and aura exhaustion certainly wouldn't last longer than twenty four hours.

No CCT connection since nobody had been able to secure the Vale tower since the city had been overrun. Little to no news from outside of Atlas. And so much of the general attitudes in Atlas were needling her in ways that honestly surprised her. How long until she finally lost her temper and slapped some random guest at one of the random parties? Or strangled her little brother? Or..

..great. Time for her to get into the dress her father wanted her to wear and start greeting guests she couldn't care less about for yet another pointless bit of lording over his dominance over all the upper class of Atlas.

If she’d kept looking at her scroll instead of setting it down, she’d have noticed an odd yet cute collection of pink polygons with eyes next to three dots and the word [connecting] at the upper right corner.

She didn't even notice her scroll was still on when she left her room. The image of a golden, circular shield, with a pair of axes crossed in front of it, one black and the other white. The background was a deep crimson..  
\----------------

Author’s Note: Well, this took a lot longer than I expected it to. Got extended hours at my job, which is great, and the stuff from the latest volume of RWBY..well, iffy.

One of the biggest things that annoyed the hell out of me was just how little Blake interacted with Ruby and Weiss. A vast majority of her actions were either her relationship with Yang, Adam being a stubborn ex stuck in a moral mytopia, and her just..fading into the background. Funnily enough that particular annoyance inspired me to revise one of my plans for this fic.

Originally, Yang was going to go through the whole Pokemon Journey thing with absolutely no contact with anyone on Remnant, being forced out of her depression by a combination of wonder and sheer necessity. It was more than a little annoying trying to push this chapter through when she’s still in floundering mode, thought “hey, you’ve already done some ridiculous bullshit by throwing Yang into the Pokemon world. Why not give her a scroll connection with her team as well to help solve her (somehow without me being able to control it) growing sense of isolation and just going through the motions?”

Not sure how long it’ll take for me to update this fic, or the Modern Warfare one. I can’t even begin to guess when I’ll have both the time and inspiration for either. Sorry. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, though.

Oh, as a side note, does anyone know a truly reliable way to give “e”s an accent mark? I know of two, but both feel like they pick and choose when to work for me.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Victor was still at the stage of examining everything that Yang’s scroll thing was capable of. In so many ways it was obscenely more versatile than anything else he’d ever gotten his hands on.

When he’d been transferred to work with Professor Oak he wasn't expecting he’d run into anything like this. The professor had just needed an electronics expert to help him do the finishing touches to the first model of pokédex, and start brainstorming what changes they wanted to implement when it went beyond the prototype stage. A brilliant man, and he had a nice idea, but technology wasn't his specialty.

As fun as it was tinkering with the prototype pokédexes, that was all he absolutely needed to do here. Oak just didn't have the facilities for anything too in-depth. Just make sure everything worked and fit properly, make sure they were using the storage space as best as they could, and then transfer over to the Cerulean lighthouse for the item transference project.

But then Yang showed up out of nowhere, the item transference project was on indefinite hold, and he was doing everything he could outside of taking the thing apart to see how it worked.

The memory storage on it was insane, somewhere in the several gigabyte range at least. That beat out the few dozen megabytes of the dex by far. The number of pictures alone, much less the text files, and even games with ‘very’ stunning graphics would have overloaded over a dozen pokedexes. And that was what he could tell at a glance. He had no idea how much space all that really took up, or what the upper limits the device’s processing power looked like.

There was a camera on the back. Small lense, certainly had to be since the whole scroll could seem to slide into itself for easier storage. Guess that was why Yang called it a scroll, not a tablet or some other rigid flat surface. And while a very expensive professional camera could probably get more detail than the one on the scroll, it beat the cheap cameras with ease.

Not much he could do to check how the wireless connection worked. He couldn't even begin to guess what kind of signals it would try to receive. Hell, he just barely had a handle on how its battery received energy.

Sure, get the right kind of wire and plug it into a wall and that would get the job done, though he’d had to jury-rig an adaptor and attach ‘that’ to the convenient charger the scroll came with. And he had no idea just how much electricity it consumed. But when he didn't have it plugged in then after extended periods of time it somehow kept a steady stream of power. Though he would get an inexplicable amount of fatigue..unless there was a pokemon present. Or even just a few people in the same room. So, it somehow drew energy from anything surrounding it, somehow wasn't even noticeable if there were two humans or a pokemon but very noticeable if he was alone for an hour with it..

It was just so ‘alien’, even the touch-screen interface was fascinating to him. A corner of his brain wondered why something so remarkably advanced still had a recognizable language that he could read, but the rest of him wanted to see what else he could find out about it before he grabbed a screwdriver and started examining its physical insides. Hell, he was worried that when he got to ‘that' stage he’d do something to screw up a critical piece in an irreparable way.

With his pokemon Dunglord out and about to keep himself from being drained, he was trying to jury rig a wire to try connecting the device to a desktop computer. Sure, he didn't have any software to try doing anything from one machine to another, but he’d noticed a small port that wasn't connected with power. And maybe he was wrong but it ‘might’ have been a more secure way to transfer data than a wireless connection.

Not that he had the right kind of wire on hand for that sort of thing. Hell, he doubted ‘anyone’ did. So he had Dunglord stick his mucky finger into that socket as part of making a mold he could either do something with himself or get someone else to make something less messy. Victor was pretty sure that if Yang saw that happen she’d have been disgusted. But she wasn't, and since she gave him the password in order to play around with her scroll and didn't even give it a second look when she hit the road..

Something caught his ear as he was trying to figure out if he ‘could’ actually make anything using the mold he’d cleverly gotten or if he’d have to call someone at Silph to custom make a wire that might not even work the way he wanted even if it fit the port perfectly. Buzzing, like something plastic vibrating against a wooden surface. The buzzing was soon followed by..music.

He wasn't even paying attention to the song, something about burning. He just stared dumbly at the screen. It was also a phone. On top of everything else it was capable of, it could call people. A wireless phone. That was currently ringing.

Picking it up, his eyes skimmed the background image, a pair of crossed axes and some leaves, then focused on two bars on the bottom.

[Refuse]  
[Answer]

He poked answer. No response, it just kept ringing. Ah, another of those sliding things. Should he go up or..ah, so it didn't matter what direction so long as he dragged his finger, okay then.

The screen was then consumed by a pair of familiar faces, the red headed girl and blond haired man who were in a number of pictures.

The man looked a combination of ecstatic and disappointed. Understandable. On one hand Victor had absolutely no idea how there was any connection at all. The fact that a call had come through had to be a miracle. On the other, there was absolutely no way an unkempt scientist man was going to be confused for a very muscular, long blonde haired girl.

The red headed girl, however, didn't let anything bring her down. “Hello!”

And Victor was himself was more fascinated by the fact he was somehow having a video call with so much detail his cutting edge computer wouldn't have been able to throw down that many pixels, and there didn't seem to be any lag. Even if he had months to consider he wouldn't have been able to decide what was more mind blowing. He didn't even see a camera on the screen side of the thing, but they could clearly see him. “Um, hi?”  
\-------------------

And here it was. Yang had somehow managed to make it to the final match of the tournament. Granted, it wasn't anything all that brag worthy, she was just a spectator. But good god, definitely felt awkward when you're the only person in a stadium with tens of thousands of people who just didn't feel into the show.

Still, she felt at least a little sorry for Katsumi. Poor kid got all the way to the semifinals and got taken down by some girl named Candezia. That Azul kid from the start was eliminated by her in the previous round, and that was with a type disadvantage. Funny how this tournament was showing her that even when the odds were against you, if you were smart then you could overcome it.

Not that Yang felt like an idiot, she did reasonably well in class and had enough technical knowhow to both build her gauntlets and keep her bike in good shape. She just had the distinct feeling that her brand of intelligence was a bit..iffy to apply here.

Now it was down to Candezia and Masamune. In terms of fighting styles, Cand felt pretty good. No complicated orders or micromanaging, just some quick yells and letting her team fight for themselves. Kind of a shame she wasn't audible. Still, it's not like too many people in the audience at the Vale festival could hear what the participants were saying. Probably a good thing with some of the frustrated or enthusiastic cussing that went around.

Masamune was solid but not quite as good as a leader, taking more time to say what he wanted done and occasionally correcting one of his team mid-attack. So far he hadn't run into anyone who could make him pay for that, but she had a feeling that might come into play here. Still, in terms of leadership they’d both left all the competition in the dust. And again Yang couldn't help wondering how Ruby would have held up in something like this. Give her maybe two months and she’d probably do better than people who’d been at it for years at the very least.

In terms of team composition, Cand had some issues. Two fires, one of which was also a fighting type, and a ground/poison. Whereas Masa had a psychic, a dragon/ice with water moves, and a steel. Fire beat steel type, understandable considering how metals were easier to reshape in a forge, and it beat ice. But shouldn't melted ice beat fire? Water beats fire, obvious and easy to remember, and beats ground for some reason. When she thought of mud she didn't imagine the water or dirt really “won” anything, it just looked like a mess. Psychic beating fighting made sense, but why poison too? Why was dragon weak to either itself or ice? Did the two type thing mean it was now resistant to ice? She probably ‘should' have been asking these questions to the old man, but it felt like such basic knowledge that she'd probably come across as an idiot!

Part of her wanted to root for Masamune. He’d been fun to talk to, even if some hallucination of Blake convinced her to try. And yeah, that still felt creepy, but she was almost ‘hoping' some other phantom would show up to drive her to do something. It's not like she had the energy to do anything other than barebones essentials since..

Taking another moment to glance at Phyllis and Duncan, she could barely hold in her sigh. Yeah, the two of them were still pretty enraptured by the tournament. Phyllis was practically vibrating in place, eager to see the final match. And while Duncan was more restrained, he had gotten a ‘lot’ closer to the window, as if the extra few feet would somehow give him a better view. Not that she could blame them. It's not like they'd seen better. Hell, she’d been pretty enraptured by the Vytal festival before she'd been put under house arrest, the city was attacked, and holy shit was she getting sick of ‘thinking' about that.

And the old man, who Yang should ‘really’ have figured out the name of by now, was grinning near constantly. She could practically see memories zipping through his head, probably tournaments he’d gone through earlier in life. Glorious victories, instructive defeats, friends made and rivalries burning strong. He’d had fewer and fewer critiques of the competitors the closer to the end they got, coinciding with the increasing intensity and skill shown.

So it was positively infuriating to Yang that she couldn't get into it. Hell, she’d felt more interested in the weapon conventions Ruby occasionally dragged her to when they were growing up. Though that probably had to do with the fact Yang was at least peripherally interested in it all. Sure, Ruby was far more into all the little details but Yang ‘was’ planning to be a huntress, and she ‘was’ proud of Ember Celica.

Not that she had her gauntlets anymore. One of them was downright gone with her right arm, and who knew where either of those were? The other was back at Oak’s place. There just..didn't feel like there was a point bringing it when she only had the one and none of her dust shells did anything for some reason. Hell, there wasn't even anything to warrant shooting at, anyway.

If nothing else, watching the various matches had convinced her that yes, despite all the “monsters” around, there was very little to be afraid of. Seeing a massive rock snake thing collapse because a literal fish out of water spat twice its own bodyweight at the behemoth made it tough to feel intimidated. Granted, she didn't really know what it would be like to personally fight most of these things..not that she could ever fight at her best again.

Yang gave herself a phantom slap to the face with her nonexistent arm. It didn't cause any noise, didn't attract any attention, though it probably wasn't the best habit to get into. It was almost like she was having a harder and harder time paying attention to the things around her. Was that because the newness of everything was growing thin, or her depression was getting worse?  
\-------------------

If anyone asked her for a play by play of the match, Yang wouldn't have been able to tell them much of anything. It was close, Masamune got the first elimination, Candezia got the second and third, then it was down to their last one and Cand got the win. But she couldn't remember the names of the creatures, not with the absurd amount of other information piling up on her. Didn't remember any of the specific moves, or what she and the old man said while it happened.

She couldn't find it in her to care that the guy she’d talked to lost. Or even that the tournament was over. She just wanted to get all the little things that felt absolutely necessary done, eat dinner, and then get to sleep. She didn't even want to think about what she'd do when she woke up.

Another workout routine with Phyllis and Duncan, something she'd convinced herself she ‘needed' to do so she wouldn't get into any habit of ignoring the little guys. Yang was doing one handed push-ups with Phyllis on her back, Duncan was looping from under Yang at her highest point to over a tree branch about ten feet up while carrying about three pounds, and Phyllis was alternating between shooting those leech seed things at a hand drawn bullseye and tagging the weight Duncan had with her vines.

Again, Yang had absolutely no idea if this sort of thing was all that acceptable around here as pokémon training, or if it was doing any of them any good at all. At the very least at this point she was sure nobody was going to just walk up to her and say she was somehow failing her little buddies. It just didn't feel like the kind of training thing that would have translated all that well into a tournament environment.

Not that she was in any way interested in actually participating in a tournament like that. Not even if some hallucination of Pyrrha showed up and tried to drag her into it. Though she certainly wouldn't mind if Pyrrha was around to give that Kenshin guy a humbling and show him how a ‘real’ champ..

The sound of someone clapping cut off her thoughts, though she didn't let it slow down her push-ups. It didn't sound like a sarcastic clap, not at that speed. Apparently her two buddies decided that was as good a reason as any to stop their own exercises to turn and see who was clapping.

Masamune’s voice came after the clapping was done. “Wow. Think I'm breaking a sweat just watching you.”

Yang chuckled a little at that. “Well, the more you sweat, the less likely you'll bleed later.”

He smiled in return. “There's probably a very interesting story behind that.”

Not really. It was just a generic thing one of the teachers at Signal liked to say when trying to motivate some of the lazier students. The only reason ‘she’ said it was because she couldn't find it in her to playfully flirt. “Maybe. Nice job making it to the finals, by the way.”

Whatever worry she had about him taking that the wrong way disappeared when he just shrugged. “Yeah, that last match was fun. Could have gone either way, I got some good moves in, and that girl had plenty of surprises for me. I just wish the other matches felt as challenging.”

Part of Yang wanted to point out his ‘team’ pulled some good moves, not Masamune personally. Then she imagined the average trainer going hand to hand with a fire throwing monkey. Yeah, that would get messy fast. Yet somehow the mental image of Blake dodging fireballs and lightning was several times more awesome than anything else she’d imagined since coming here. “I know what you mean. After a while, knocking down someone with ease stops feeling awesome and just makes you feel like a glorified bully.”

Of course then Yang started to wonder if it was really a good thing if the person she was most comfortable talking to so far wasn’t getting the whole truth. He was definitely under the impression she was just another trainer, didn't have any idea what a huntress was. But because she was keeping things ‘just' vague enough that it ‘felt' like they had more in common, it made the differences stick out more in her mind.

What made it worse was he couldn't tell there was any disconnect. He just filled in the blanks. “Yeah. I get that some of these people haven't been trainers for long, or have other obligations that make it tough to get their skills up, but still. It's more fun to take on someone close to your level, where it isn't absurdly one sided.”

Did Blake ever feel guilty about lying like this? If she didn't, did that make it wrong for Yang to feel that way? “It can get pretty tough trying to tell before you really get into it, though. There was this pair of twins I ended up running into, so seamlessly coordinated it was freaky. But get ‘em one on one and they felt like they barely knew what they were doing.”

“Coordinated as in a dance routine?”

“Nope. Coordinated fighting, though they ‘were’ kind of dressed as dancers so maybe that as well?”

“Huh, so a two on one match. Sounds pretty bold of you.”

“Yeah. I could keep pace with both of them at once. Not too sure I could take either of them one on one ‘now’, but..”

Yang wasn't sure what was more depressing, the fact that she had an easier time talking to this guy than her bookworm of a partner right off the bat or the fact that she sounded like a washed up old woman. She wasn't even twenty yet, it should be completely physically impossible to feel this ‘tired'. Was tired even the right word when it had nothing to do with your muscles?

“Yeah, I kind of noticed your pokémon look pretty fresh. Like you haven't had them for more than a month. If you don't mind me asking, does it have anything to do with..”

He gestured to her arm stump, and she couldn't help giving a laugh completely devoid of humor. It was only a matter of time before someone asked about that. “Yeah.”

She didn't say anything more, and he didn't have anything to say in response. What ‘could’ be said after that? At most his lone eye had a combination of sympathy and understanding. Yang wasn't sure how much that meant to her. Sure, he lost an eye at some point in his life, probably a very traumatic event. But she lost her ‘home’, her friends and family could even be ‘dead’ after that disaster and she’d have no way of knowing.

The awkward silence was interrupted by someone politely coughing, drawing Yang’s attention to the same guy who escorted her to the VIP lounge at the start of the tournament. He was in a business suit, not the uniform for the officials, but it didn't make her feel any less creeped out. It gave her the impression that ‘maybe' that Oak guy was keeping her under observation or something. “Forgive me Ms Xiao Long. An urgent package from Professor Oak has arrived for you, and I was told to bring you to it as quickly as possible.”

Half of Yang wanted to be just as cautious as the first time this guy led her somewhere. If this was such an important package, why didn't the guy bring it to her? Why bring her to it? The other half? She wanted to thank the guy’s timing. The conversation was about to go in a direction she wasn't really eager to go through, and it was bad enough the kind of crap her head wandered through. No need to get hit by depression from the outside as well if she could help it.

Plastering a smile on her face, she took a quick glance at her little buddies and felt the smile turn more genuine. Duncan was outright pruning himself out of boredom, or maybe an exaggeration of it. Guess he wasn't a fan of the conversation even if he’d been polite enough to not interrupt. Phyllis on the other hand was focused entirely on Yang. Maybe she could sense something was off about the mood, or maybe she was wondering if they’d get back to the exercise routine they'd interrupted.

It was amazing how two completely different attitudes could spark the same warm feelings in her. Finally stopping her pushups, Yang got to her feet and said, “Right. Guess it's time to go.”

Masamune didn't seem all that bummed out she was leaving, though he asked, “Are you ‘always' going to get pulled away by this guy?”

It felt a bit forced, but Yang still found it in her to make a joke. “Oh I hope not. Maybe next time it’ll be a new guy, or a bunch of girls.”  
\----------------

The paranoid part of Yang couldn't really feel that worried anymore when she was led to a residential area. Some apartment buildings about five stories high on one side of the street, some two story houses on the other. Too nice to be a slum, not nice enough to be considered a fancy area.

It was still a little iffy when the guy opened the door to one of the houses and held it open for her. What the hell kind of “package” couldn't be either handed to her back at the park or at a post office? This world ‘did' have post offices,right? Or was that just as alien an idea to these people as real danger and guns? Was alien even the right word when the entire world was so bizarre?

She didn't really pay attention to the layout of the house, it seemed pretty normal when she went in. She didn't start relaxing, even when she walked into a room where her scroll was propped up on a table. Okay, weird image she'd never seen before on it, and she wasn't expecting to see the thing again, but..

..huh. For some reason when she walked closer, a text popped up that said [Connection Established]. Then pictures of each member of her team showed up on three corners, clockwise Ruby, Weiss, and Blake. Under each picture was an option to call, and at the center, an option to call all of them at once.

How the hell was there a connection? What was with that background image? And assuming this wasn't the single cruelest prank she'd ever come across..who should she call first?

Walking towards it almost in a daze, she tried angling herself to avoid letting the screen have a good view of her right side. She didn't hear whatever the guy who brought her in said, didn't even register she wasn't alone as her left hand hovered near the screen. She could call..they were..alright? No, just because she had a connection with them, which she hadn't actually confirmed yet, didn't mean they were fine.

It didn't feel right to call everyone at once, she had the distinct feeling the first one she talked to would make her break down. She ‘had' to call, yes, both for their sake and her own, but..well, she had always been the ‘strong' one for her sister. She tried to be confident and relaxed whenever she wasn't arguing with Weiss. And..oh god, if she called Blake then ‘both' of them would be crying, probably incoherent and..well, that sort of mutual breakdown thing was best done in hugging range. Not that she didn't want to call Blake at all, just not ‘first'.

So her hand hovered between Ruby and Weiss. Who was the one she wanted to test the connection out on? Who was she most willing to use as a pillar of strength before calling the other two?

Almost before she finished her thought, her finger hit one of them, and the phone started to ring.  
\-------------------

Author’s Note: Right. It's probably fairly easy to guess who I want Yang to talk to first. As much as I like the idea of Yang getting over her depression and confusion alone in this journey, I couldn't help noticing that I just couldn't find a believable way for her to get her act together on her own. And it didn't feel right for her to latch onto anyone new she met in the new world, either. At least not yet.

For those of you who don't like the fact that I took Blake off the options for first call, please don't construe this as me not liking Bumblebee. Hell, I'm kind of a Pollination shipper, enjoying the idea of the bonds between the entire team (platonic in the case of Ruby and Yang..usually at any rate). Hard to hate the Black and Yellow pair when it's part of the whole web of connections.

But point 1: volume 6 felt downright ‘strangled' by the whole Yang/Blake pairing. And not the aspects of it I like where the characters bounce off eachother, contrasting and complementing one another and feeling like a healthy couple that can support and occasionally reign in the other. This was “oh look, drama” where things were suffocatingly tense between them until suddenly they weren't and I couldn't find it in me to give a shit. Meanwhile Yang barely acknowledges her own sister, the Weiss connection from the previous volume felt forgotten, and Blake felt ‘more' isolated despite reuniting with her team.

Aside from some of the world building with Salem and Atlas, I felt ‘nothing' for what the volume brought to the table. I've read countless Yang/Blake stories that pull it off better, Adam dying felt more like removing an inconvenience than anything that resolved issues with any real weight, and..

..and I should probably drop this line of thought before I go on and on about everything that's pissed me off about the writing as of Volume 4. I still enjoy the characters and world, even if I can't stand the show itself anymore. Sort of like I enjoy the fanfiction of Ranma ½ without actually being able to enjoy watching the anime or read the manga past a certain point.

And point 2, the occasional person has mentioned that they don't like how directionless Yang is. Funnily enough that was one of the reasons I decided to do this fic.

Ruby only ever wanted to be a hero. Weiss wants to honor and clean up her family legacy. Blake wants to remove injustice from the world. Whereas Yang at her best was looking for her mother with no idea what to do if she ever found her. If I threw any of the other three into the Pokémon world, they would try to shift their goals into something that would fit in this new environment, whereas Yang is freefloating at the best of times. And these aren't her best of times.

As much as it's part of her character now and part of the point of this story, it feels like her inability to ‘stop' reliving and thinking about what happened to her is slowing things down more than I expected. Sure, it's part of how PTSD works but thirteen chapters of it being the single biggest factor has been getting tiring. Hopefully a phone connection with her team will change things up enough that she isn't just living debris.

By the way, does anyone have any suggestions for actual training for her Pokémon at this point? As someone who usually chooses a fire type and builds my team around that, it’s hard for me to visualize how one might raise a bulbasaur and any pokemon meant to compliment it on a team. I’m more used to imagining a team make-up with a charmander since that’s what I typically choose whenever I do a game set in Kanto.

We'll see how long it takes for me to pump out the next chapter. Until next time.


End file.
